Friday, November 20, 2015

SNOW TONIGHT!

Public weather briefing

Temperatures have dropped substantially over the past few days, and this will help with precipitation coming in the form of snow, instead of rain. This morning, the National Weather Service office in Milwaukee issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of southern Wisconsin (in effect through noon Saturday). Our first winter weather event is expected to begin tonight and continue into tomorrow afternoon. Near freezing temperatures are expected tonight and will persist through the weekend. Warmer temperatures are expected during the middle of next week, and a chance of rain is expected for the Thanksgiving holiday.


Forecast 

Tonight. 3-5 inches of snow expected. Lows in the mid 20's.

Saturday. Snow in the morning. Clear afternoon. High around 30.

Saturday night. Clear. Low in the lower 10's.

Sunday. Sunny, but very chilly. High in the mid 20s.

Monday. Clear skies. High near 40.

Outlook for Tuesday through Thursday. Sunny Tuesday, with chances of rain on Wednesday and Thursday. Highs in the mid 30's Tuesday and in the 40s on Wednesday and Thursday. Lows in the 20's on all three days. [CONFIDENCE: MEDIUM]


Forecast Discussion

Over the past couple days, a westerly flow, resulting from a cyclone located in near the Hudson Bay, has brought arctic air into Wisconsin. This cold air combined with ascent in the region, create the ingredients that will make for our first snow event of the season. This ascent will primarily main south of Madison, which will result in higher snow totals in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. While the low pressure system near the Hudson Bay moves east this weekend, Wisconsin will remain at the bottom of a trough feature and continue to have cold air brought from Canada, resulting in chilly temperatures throughout the weekend.

At the beginning of next week, a warm front is expected to pass through Wisconsin, indicated by high absolute vorticity and tight temperature gradient. Temperatures will be much warmer and more comfortable than those expected this weekend. Southwesterly flow during the middle of next week will bring warmer temperatures and moist air from the Pacific to the midwest. This creates a potential for rain at this time due to the flow bringing a low pressure system toward Wisconsin as well.

Lauren Deanes

1 comment:

  1. Well, you certainly got the rain on thanksgiving right! It rained all day! Besides that, I think saturday it snowed much longer than you originally stated. In Madison, it snowed until 2 pm then it became quite overcast with mid level clouds. The forecast was nice and brief with only the necessary information, I like it! Great synoptic overview too!

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