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Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Blog for Groundhog Day

Headlines 

A dry couple of days ahead

An unsettled weekend

Much colder air arrives Sunday

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Vlog 

48-Hour WX

Seven-Day Forecast

Daily Forecast Summary

Today: Partly cloudy and breezy.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny.

Thursday: Increasing clouds, with a chance of showers by the overnight hours.

Friday: Chance of morning snow. No accumulation expected at this time.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Light snow developing overnight.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy, with a chance for flurries and/or snow showers. Accumulation is possible.

Monday: Mostly sunny and cold.

48-Hour Precip Forecast

The next couple of days should be dry.

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Concerns

Confidence will likely increase as we get closer to Saturday that we will see some accumulating snowfall. That snowfall should stay on the light side but I may even increase the forecast into the 1-2 inch range for snow. Stay tuned.

Meteorologist Mark’s Snow Day Scale (New!)

You all better be ready to go back to school on Wednesday! With the precip long gone and temps warming above freezing today, I think the best you can hope for is a delay. Fingers crossed for a delay! (ha)

Meteorologist Mark’s Wx Discussion

Whew! It’s an active pattern! First things first, we’ve no weather worries for the next 48 hours or so. Enjoy the calm!

By Thursday night, my headaches begin. We’ll see some light precip and temps that will be hovering in the low to mid 30s. At this time, confidence is rather high that temps will remain just above freezing, sparing us any issues. I will keep a very close eye on this. Regardless of temps, precip will be on the lighter side of things, as it looks right now.

Then, my next conundrum arrives Saturday evening. All guidance, which is unusual this far out, agrees that we will see snow Saturday night. It’s the amount of snow that is in question but nothing is screaming major winter storm. This should be another light event, as it looks right now. I’ll keep a close eye on this. Look for confidence to increase as we get closer to that timeframe.

Then, bitter cold and arctic air settles in for Sunday. By Monday morning, we could be in the single digits! Brrrrr If we get an inch or two of snow Saturday night, that will only worsen the cold and we could, just maybe, try to touch zero degrees by Monday morning.

Then, models are showing a system coming in by Tuesday or Wednesday. At that time, arctic air will still be entrenched across the area and any moisture that moves in would be wintry. That moisture could come from the Gulf, so it bears watching. This is, of course, “voo-doo forecasting” territory and there’s no way I would confidently forecast anything beyond Sunday. But do stay tuned!

On This Day in Wx History

1952 – The only tropical storm of record to hit the U.S. in February moved out of the Gulf of Mexico and across southern Florida. It produced 60 mph winds, and two to four inches of rain.

Almanac

You’ll notice that we were in the 60s on this day last year!

Yesterday’s National Temperature Extremes

High: 78° at Nogales, Arizona and Kendall, Florida

Low: -21° at Island Pond Airport, Vermont

Today’s National Wx Hazards

Snow flakes are flying from the southern Appalachians to New England. Once you get to New England, inland snow intensifies and coastal freezing rain becomes severe. One of the most powerful winter storms to hit the Northeast in some time certainly continues today. Meanwhile, another storm system moves into the Northwest, bringing more heavy mountain snowfall.

Tomorrow’s National Wx Hazards

A few snowflakes are flying across New England but the biggest weather impacts of the day will come from freezing rain across much of Wisconsin and northern Michigan, as well as along the US border of North Dakota and Montana. Elsewhere, heavy snows fall once again across the northern Rockies.

 Weather Shots

I took this yesterday. Notice that bird in the birdhouse. If you ask me, that bird is one smart bird! It was cold yesterday!

NASA Nerdology 

In celebration of Black History Month, NASA is naming their next Cygnus spacecraft in honor of an individual whose handwritten math launched the first Americans into space. Meet NG-15: the S.S. Katherine Johnson.

You all have a great day and keep lookin’ up!

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