Is rain and snow announced for Thursday?

It’s a wet start to the day in the region with showers in the vicinity. Temperatures have stayed relatively mild overnight thanks to strong winds and temperatures should recover somewhat today before a strong cold front moves in the afternoon.

This front will send temperatures skyrocketing and it will feel considerably colder this morning compared to this morning. With the colder air rolling in with some moisture lagging behind this front, a fast-moving band of windblown snow is possible between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. or so. It can snow heavily for a while… and with the cracking temperatures, I’ve been wondering about some coatings on snow out there, especially from the Metro north and west. Also freezing wet surfaces (mainly bridges and overpasses) for a few hours tonight.

It’s one of those days where you buckle your seat belt… another shot of cold air is coming to the region over the weekend too. March hasn’t been warm for the last 10 days or so.

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Forecast:

Today: Rain with mild weather and gusty winds this morning, then showers with colder temperatures this afternoon with strong winds. Temperatures will drop from 50 to 30 degrees today.

Tonight: A few hours of snow are possible tonight, then partly cloudy skies with stormy conditions and colder temperatures. Morning lows in the mid-20s

Morning: Sunny in the morning with blustery winds all day. Temperatures will recover into the low 40’s and in the afternoon there is a slight chance of a few rain/snow/sleet showers somewhere out there.

Saturday: Sunny and very cold for mid-March. Highs in the low 30s

Sunday: Cold with highs in the mid to high 30s

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Discussion:

Let’s start with the surface map…it’s dynamic with a strong cold front moving through the prairie this morning.

Up front, strong southerly winds will allow us to get into the 50’s today…behind the front, temperatures will plunge into the 30’s and then into the 20’s.

This front will enter the region from NW to SE through the Metro around noon today.

Here’s a look at the predicted temperatures…

Then at 6 p.m….

There should be a few hours of quiet after the front snow comes in and before the rear snow arrives. This would be roughly between 4pm and 6pm or so… after that there should be a line of snow to the west and coming that way… so by 8pm or so we have this look.

We’ll see how that bond holds together as it heads east. It may try to break up a bit, but we should see some windblown snow moving through.

From 22h00 to 00h00 temperatures drop below 32° and WHEN it’s still wet or maybe white in some areas with a light layer of snow we have to watch out for black ice, especially on bridges and overpasses. The snow aspect of it won’t last long… and the strong winds behind the front will help dry out the tarmac… so it might not be a big issue, but I’d rather mention it than not mention it here lest anyone be surprised by the potential becomes.

Tomorrow will be a blustery and colder day… we start with sunshine but clouds are gathering from the northwest. When temperatures try to warm up to close to 40° and with a cold pocket of air in the air… the atmosphere can support the development of some rain showers. The next question will be what form these showers will take, as the overall atmosphere will support snow.

Temperatures can potentially recover to almost 40C, so airborne flakes can try to melt a little as they come down. With this setup we could also get some sleet showers. While coverage should be patchy, I won’t be surprised if anything shows up on radar in the afternoon.

After that it’s just a cold weekend…with temperatures really 20 to 25 degrees below average.

Next week will be up and down as well, although more 50’s are likely, so that’s a good thing.

In the meantime…

Not surprisingly, in many areas of the West, the drought is decreasing by the week… look at how it’s changed over the past few months