January 3, 2001
Hope everyone had a great holiday! It was nice to bring in the New Year with a decent snowpack on the ground in Delaware County. What also made the holiday enjoyable was the lack of any stormy weather in the Northeast the past few days. A nice chance to clear the mind from all the hooplah over the past weekend with that storm system.
This week has started off quiet but still below normal temperature wise. Activity will be picking up again over the next 7 days as a series of Alberta Clippers press their way eastward. There are actually a series of three shortwaves that will approach the area through Monday, so any of these could bring precipitation to the region.
Wednesday will be mostly sunny with the high in the mid 30s. Clouds will increase Wednesday night as shortwave number 1 approaches the area. This system looks deprived of much moisture, and at most would give the area scattered flurries late Wednesday night into Thursday. Lows Wednesday night in the upper 20s, highs on Thursday in the mid 30s. The clouds should break partially during the day on Thursday, but will thicken once again late Thursday night. Lows will range from 25-30 across the area. Shortwave number 2 will be arriving during the day on Friday with the chance for a period of light snow. Accumulations, if any, look to be light at the moment. A good guess at this point would be a dusting to maybe an inch or two. Will have to see if the precipitation will hold together as if passes the Appalachians. Many times guidance will show light accumulations with a system like this only to have the precip blocked by the mountains as it presses eastward. Again, no big deal at this point. Highs Friday in the mid to upper 30s. Saturday will be partly cloudy with the highs in the upper 30s. Sunday will feature increasing clouds as shortwave number 3 approaches. Snow is possible Sunday night with a low around 30. Right now, guidance is showing the third shortwave having the best potential for accumulating snow in our region. It's tough with a pattern like this to pick out which shortwave will be the most potent, so confidence is actually quite low in predicting snowfall past 36 hours. Will say that the second shortwave (Friday) is showing hints that it may redevelop off the coast, possibly affecting Eastern New England much more than currently progged. However, the jury is still out on that particular scenario.
So, seasonable to below normal temps will stick around through at least Monday with several Alberta Clipper systems pressing eastward. At least three chances for some sort of frozen precip the next 6 days. Wednesday night/Thursday morning has the chance for scattered flurries. Friday afternoon/night *may* provide the area with minor accumulations. Sunday night, as of now, looks more widespread and most threatening at this time, but still not major by any stretch of the imagination. Probably no update Wednesday, but will likely update on Thursday with more information on the following two Clippers in the series. Take care.
