Feb 17, 2013: Cold And Windy Tonight, This Week

Forecast Highlights:

After a coastal storm intensified off the coast, bringing 1 to 3 inches of snow across eastern parts of Long Island and eastern CT, left the region heading into Atlantic Canada, windy conditions developed today with colder temperatures, generally in the upper 20s to mid 30s. Windy conditions will continue tonight and on Monday as temperatures drop into the 10s, with wind chills near to below zero expected; after a brief warm up on Monday with rain, cold and windy conditions will return for Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a rain/snow event on Friday.

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**New Blog Addition: The 5-day forecast now includes wind outlooks through Day 3.**


Tonight - Monday: Cold, Windy

Windy conditions will continue this evening into tonight, with sustained winds of 15-25 mph across most of the area, up to 30 mph in Long Island, and gusts up to 35-45 mph. Meanwhile, temperatures will drop into the upper 0s to low 10s inland and the low to mid 10s for the rest of the area, with mid to upper 10s in NYC. As a result, wind chills near to below zero are expected tonight into Monday morning.

Monday will be mainly sunny with slightly warmer temperatures, peaking in the upper 20s to low 30s across the area, possibly in the mid 30s near NYC. Windy conditions will continue but to a lesser extent than today, with sustained winds of 10-20 mph across most of the area, up to 25 mph in Long Island, with gusts up to 30-40 mph.


Tuesday - Beyond: Rain, Cold/Windy, Then Rain/Snow

A brief break from the cold temperatures is expected on Tuesday as a low pressure tracks through the Great Lakes into southern Canada, with a secondary low pressure forming over Maine. Despite temperatures aloft at 850mb mostly near or below freezing, warmer temperatures are expected near the surface with a south/SSW wind, with highs peaking in the low 40s inland and the low to mid 40s across the rest of the area. Temperatures are expected to slightly drop with the onset of precipitation around the late morning to early afternoon hours; mainly rain is expected, other than the possibility of some snow for interior northern areas at the start and end of the storm. Light to moderate rain will continue into the evening, with at least 1/4 inch of rain likely.

Behind the cold front in the evening hours, another cold air mass is expected to drop into the region, with windy conditions developing again. Partly sunny skies are expected for Wednesday with highs in the mid to upper 20s inland and the upper 20s to low 30s for the rest of the area, with a strong west wind gusting up to 30-40 mph. Mostly sunny skies are expected for Thursday with highs similar to those of Wednesday.

The next storm is expected to affect the region towards Friday. Despite the low pressure developing well west of the region, with a significant snowstorm in the Plains, and tracking towards the Great Lakes region, it will be prevented from continuing on this path with a block-like feature over southern Canada, and will instead track east into the region while weakening. By Friday evening, light precipitation from the weakening primary low pressure will spread into the region, producing light rain/snow across the area; exact snow amounts are uncertain at this time but are likely to remain minor. A coastal low pressure is then expected to develop overnight while moving away from the region on Saturday, and light precipitation is expected to continue through Friday night and Saturday, possibly into Saturday night. There is still some uncertainty regarding the exact development of this low pressure, which is currently expected to keep most of the rain east and south of the area, but is subject to change with potentially more impact in the region. Drier conditions are expected to return on Sunday, with another storm potential towards early-mid next week. More information on the weekend outlook, as well as the longer range storm potential, will be posted over the next few days.