Feb 7, 2011: Rain/Mix, Then Cold And Windy

Today was a mostly cloudy day across the area with mild temperatures observed once again, in the upper 30s to mid 40s across the area, helping the snow pack in place melt a little more. A storm is currently moving in, bringing light rain along with a light snow/mix further inland, with a cold air blast to follow behind this storm, which along with windy conditions, will send wind chills below zero across the area by Wednesday morning. This will be the last strong cold spell for a while, however, as we will see a pattern change starting this coming weekend.


Tonight And Tomorrow: Storm Bring Rain, Mix

Looking at the current radar, posted to the left, there is light to moderate rain affecting most of the area, with a wintry mix in the western parts of the area. A large dry slot is moving in from the southwest, however, which will prevent moderate to heavy precipitation from affecting the area tonight. The area will end up between two areas of precipitation, one of them off the coast, and the other one being a moderate snowstorm for places such as Pennsylvania and New York. By the morning, precipitation should end as snow inland with accumulations between 1/2 and 2 inches possible, a light rain/snow mix for the immediate NYC area with no accumulations, and rain for the eastern parts of the area.

Clearing skies are expected tomorrow with dropping temperatures by the afternoon as a much colder air mass moves in, however the wind will also pick up, with gusts up to 40 mph expected across the area. These gusty winds will continue into the overnight hours, and when combined with temperatures in the single digits north and west of NYC, the wind will lead to wind chills below zero across most of the area, and potentially reaching -10 degrees in the interior parts of the area. I may issue a Cold Alert for the interior parts of the area tomorrow.


Mid To Late Week: Cold, Windy And Dry

After the cold temperatures on Wednesday morning, the wind will relax throughout the day, but high temperatures will remain cold, in the mid to upper 20s across the area with a few lower 30s possible in the immediate NYC area. Afterwards, a storm will move into the southern Mid Atlantic, however it will miss the area. The models, however, are consistent with the storm staying to the south of the area, and with the set up not very favorable for this to come up the coast as a stronger system, it will take a big change for it to become this favorable, which is nearly impossible with only 2 days left. I am expecting partly to mostly cloudy skies for the area on Thursday with cold conditions expected to continue.

Stay tuned for an update tomorrow that will discuss the longer range, including the warm up that will come starting in the weekend.