- Jan 19, 2020

ARCTIC AIR INVASION....

Snow and ice are on the ground... clinging to the trees... and now it is bitterly cold outside. First here's a look at the snowfall totals from Friday night's storm...

Across my local area there was generally 4-6" of snow with some spots picking up a quarter of an inch of ice. That ice actually saved the day... Winds were kicking Saturday afternoon and gusted around 40-50 mph. Where ice did not fall (in northern Iowa, Minnesota) there was fluffy snow that got blown around and created ground blizzard conditions.

Now the wind is just creating terribly cold conditions across the Upper Midwest. Arctic air has been filing in since Saturday afternoon and now we're in the thick of it. Here's a look at temperatures as of 11 pm.

Then factor in that wind and it... it's just ugly out there:

Temperatures will bottom out well below zero by Sunday morning with a 1040 mb (very strong, very cold) high pressure system nearby.

With that high pressure system still overhead temperatures will struggle for several days... even with sunshine. Here's a look at the high temperature forecast for Sunday afternoon -

Ouch... especially in that snowpack! Sunday night temperatures will likely drop down into the teens below zero and we'll repeat things on Monday AND Tuesday with high temperatures in the single digits and teens.

Temperatures start to moderate Wednesday... getting back closer to normal (20s and 30s). This is as a big ridge (area of high pressure) starts to build in the upper levels of the atmosphere and pushes the arctic air out.