AN EXTENDED WARMING TREND...

The weekend got off to a cold start thanks to a fresh mantle of snow delivered by Friday's disturbance. As you can see below, the track of the system allowed the heavier amounts to fall northwest of the Quad Cities. In that area, amounts were generally in the 2-4" range, with a 5" report near Dubuque. Southeast of the Quad Cities totals were around 1-2".

Here's a larger perspective of Midwest snow totals.

The visible satellite imagery clearly shows river valleys imbedded within the snow field. It also shows some bare ground southeast of the Mississippi near the Quad Cities where Thursday nights snow was lighter.

Thanks in part to the snow and ice on the ground all the way to St. Louis, Friday got off to a very chilly start with readings in the single digits and low teens. A brisk NW wind produced wind chills below zero from the Quad Cities northwest.

Eventually, the power of the late February sun did allow temperatures to reach the low to mid 20s at mid-afternoon.

However, those readings are about 9-13 degrees below average.

After a cold Friday night, temperatures today should warm steadily going above freezing into the range of 35-40. That will take a bite out of the existing snow cover as it readily melts due to its minimal moisture content. What's left Sunday should should pretty much vanish as highs grow even warmer around 40-45. Overall, a nice way to close out the last weekend of February.

In a broad sense, we have now entered into what looks to be a quiet 7 day period of weather. The atmosphere appears to be recharging after a 3 week salvo of energetic storms.. This slow down is being driven by the return of northwest flow. As we've mentioned many times, northwest flow is short on moisture and a pattern that's dominated by clippers. Unless the NW flow is amplified (which it's not expected to be), any clippers will track north of the region with dry frontal passages. We do see meager swings in temperatures but with the mean trough centered over the Great Lakes, cold air penetration looks limited. That's a recipe for mild temperatures next week. Here's an example of what the 500mb jet stream flow is expected to look like next Thursday.

Through Friday of next week the EURO shows no measurable precipitation in my area.

Temperatures over that same period look mild, averaging 4-5 degrees above normal per day.

The Climate Prediction Center's 6-10 day outlook came in this way. The above normal precipitation it shows would come beyond the 7 day period (if at all).

The operational EURO shows some pretty decent temperatures through March 6th before a a cool-down late.

All in all, there's not much going on and that's the way it stays into next week. Keep on keeping on. Roll weather and UKRAINE....TS

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