Autumn weather is here in earnest. In a remarkable change from last week, we’ll see high temperatures below normal for most days. Temperatures will range 30ºF cooler than this time last week. As we look ahead towards the winter, there are mixed signals about whether this will be a cooler, warmer, or average winter.
Rest of today – sunny, breezy, with a high near 60ºF. Northwest winds around 15mph, gusting to 30mph.
Tuesday – mostly sunny, breezy again especially later with northwest winds again between 15-20mph. Cooler, with high temperatures in the mid-50s. With the wind, it will feel quite cool for this time of year.
Wednesday – winds should ease up a bit, but will be cool again with high temperatures potentially only in the low-50s.
Thursday – temperatures rise back into the mid-50s with the approach of a storm system from the west that should bring a chance for rain, increasing through the day.
Winter Outlook
Meteorologists are less confident that we’ll have a La Niña this coming winter, which makes the winter climate outlook more uncertain. There are indications that temperatures may be a bit milder overall. However, that doesn’t preclude the possibility of some serious cold spells also.
There are conflicting forecasts that call for a colder than normal winter also, which you can read about on Weather Underground. Unfortunately, there is no indication we’ll get above average precipitation, which would be welcomed considering most of the Northeast is still dealing with an increasingly serious drought.
The groundhogs may end up being right, and we could get an early spring this year, but winter won’t be relinquishing its grasp this week. Multiple storms will be impacting the area throughout the first half of the week, resulting in multiple rounds of snow up through Wednesday. Luckily for us, this snow is expected to be mostly on the light side for NYC, although areas east of the city could be getting 8-10″ of snow just with today’s storm. So, if you like winter weather, and snow that you don’t have to shovel, this is your week.
Rest of today – snow showers have started falling over the city in the last hour or so. Light accumulations of 2-3″ maximum are expected in the city, with much higher totals as you move east. The city is only going to get brushed by the western fringe of this coastal storm that’s passing, and snow should taper off by 1PM today. In a very similar setup to last week’s storm, areas east of the city will get the bulk of the snow today. Temperatures will be gradually dropping during the day into the low-30s with evaporative
Tuesday – a second storm system forms offshore of the Mid-Atlantic overnight, and spins up another round of snow for us tomorrow. Snow should start falling after daybreak, with another 1-2″ possible here in the city. High temperatures should top out in the low-30s.
Wednesday – unsettled weather continues Wednesday with the potential for more light snow during the day, although temperatures could be a little warmer in the upper-30s.
Thursday – things finally start calming down with the chances for snow diminishing, though skies will still be cloudy with high temperatures near freezing.
After Thursday, we are expecting a deep freeze with the passage of an Arctic front going into the weekend.
We have had a very warm start to the month of February, and it sure does feel like the groundhogs were right that there will an early spring. Even if that is to be the case, we are still technically in the depths of winter, and the weather over the next couple of weeks will remind us of that fact. The end of this week and this weekend will be relatively quiet on the weather front, but looking ahead at the beginning of next week, there is a potential for a coastal storm that could bring us some more snow.
Rest of today – mostly cloudy with some breaks of sun, warm but with temperatures dropping through the 50s during the day.
Friday – the cold front that passed through yesterday will stall out at sea, but close enough to us that another impulse of low pressure moving along it could bring some light snow to southern and eastern portions of the NYC region. Light, wet, accumulating snow is possible for NYC and Long Island. Depending on the storm track, some areas of eastern Long Island could pick up 3″, while areas west closer to the city see a coating to an inch overnight. During the day Friday, temperatures will cool off noticeably into the low-40s and the winds will pick up as skies clear.
Saturday – a nice day, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the low-mid 40s.
Sunday – essentially a clone of Saturday in terms of sensible weather, mostly sunny, highs in the low-mid 40s.
Cooling Off the Next Couple Weeks
It is technically supposed to be the coldest stretch of the year climatologically, so it makes sense that there should be some cooler temperatures coming. In fact, Climate Prediction Center does have normal to below normal temperatures (normal would be in the mid-30s) for the area the next couple of weeks.
This upcoming week will feature some big swings in temperature, with high temperatures increasing steadily up through Thursday, when highs could 60 before a cold front swings through. Following the passage of this cold front, we dip back into the mid-40s and continue cooling into the lower-40s this weekend. The temperature trend in the medium term remains below normal, potentially well below normal even through the first week of April, as a series of cold fronts continue to allow cold Canadian air to enter the area.
Monday – an area of high pressure will yield a sparkling sunny day, but will also permit cold, Arctic air back into the region. Northwest winds combined with noticeably cold overnight lows will produce uncomfortably cold conditions. High temperatures Monday may barely break freezing. It’ll be one of the coldest day we’ve had this month.
Tuesday – also gets off to a chilly start, but high temperatures are expected to push up to around 40 (which is more than 10ºF colder than normal).
Wednesday – a clear start, but clouds will be building ahead of a warm front that will pass over the region late Wednesday. Temperatures will steadily climb to near 50, especially after the warm front passes. There will be a slight chance for rain later Wednesday in conjunction with this frontal passage.
Thursday – highs will near if not break 60, however, it is anticipated to be a overcast day with periods of rain possible throughout the day. After the warm front passes Wednesday, we’ll be firmly within the warm sector, between the warm front to our east and the approaching cold front from the west. This setup favors the influx of warm, moist air from the Gulf riding in on persistent southwesterly winds, before a dramatic shift following the cold front passing, with winds becoming west-northwest and a drop in temperatures.
Friday – high temperatures drop back in to the mid-40s, as clouds break apart and colder, dry air takes hold behind the cold front.
Below Normal Start to April
It’s close to a sure bet (70% probability) that we’ll end the month of March and start April with below normal temperatures, taking a look at the Climate Prediction Centers forecasts below. I know we’re all sick of this seemingly endless winter, but we’re still not out of the woods in terms of temperatures.
6-10 temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center8-14 temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center
Just when we thought winter was on its last legs, and spring was on its way. Unfortunately, as the Climate Prediction Center forecast a couple weeks ago, a cool down is in the cards to end the month of March. In fact, it will get so cold that snow could accumulate Friday into Friday night. After a brief warmup, another shot of colder than normal air will return to grip the area to end off the month.
Thursday – a below normal, but dry day with plenty of sun and high near 40.
Friday – (ironically, first day of astronomical spring) a coastal low moving offshore of the Carolinas will then track north. Enough cold air will be in place Friday, along with a persistent northerly flow with counterclockwise circulation around the low pressure center that snow is looking likely during the course of the day. Current forecast snow accumulations are on the light side, no more than 3-4″. If temperatures are even a few degrees warmer than currently forecast, we could get away with little accumulation.
Friday’s storm
Saturday – things clear up quickly on Saturday with high temperatures back near normal in the mid-upper 40s.
Sunday – a dry cold front moves through Sunday, leading to a drop in temperatures to below normal in the upper 30s.
Cool Off Coming Up
The climate prediction center continues to point to cooler than normal temperatures for the last two weeks of March. One can only hope that the temperatures are not so cold as to allow for more snow, but I wouldn’t rule this possibility entirely out given some of the longer term forecast models.
6-10 temperature outlook8-14 day temperature outlook
March will start off with quite an active, messy week for us. During the middle of the week, we’ll see snow, rain, and then more snow, before we end off the week with temperatures well below normal once again.
Tuesday – clouds will begin to increase throughout the day with chances for snowfall increasingly steadily as well. Not much in the way of accumulating snow is expected during the day Tuesday. High temperatures around 30.
Wednesday – overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, temperatures will actually rise as a warm front pushes through. This will allow temperatures on Wednesday to top 40. Snow early on will give way to sleet, then eventually transition to all rain. This period of rain should melt some of the existing snowpack, and there could be some minor/nuisance flooding of poor drainage areas as this occurs.
Thursday – once the cold front depicted above pushes through late Wednesday, cold air will rapidly fill in behind it and allow for temperatures to drop back into the mid-20s. As this occurs, a second wave of low pressure is expected to form over the Mid-Atlantic and move over the area. This may lead to enough precipitation to warrant a Winter Storm Warning, with 6″ of snow possible by Thursday afternoon. Highs will be near 30.
Friday – as these storms finally move away, Friday will be a sunny day, but with Arctic air back in place over the area, we’ll be once again welcoming high temperatures in the mid-20s, which at this point is over 15 degrees below normal.
After that brief “warmup” during the weekend, we’re once again mired in Arctic cold air. This cold trend continues with a reinforcing shot of cold air as a cold front sweeps through Wednesday. Behind that, high pressure builds in over the area for the end of the week and into the weekend, ensuring another prolonged stretch of chilly, much below normal temperatures.
Wednesday – ahead of what will a dry cold front passing through, high temperatures may be able to climb to just about the freezing mark under mostly sunny skies.
Thursday – once the cold front moves offshore, an area of low pressure will strengthen, but remain well offshore of the area. However, precipitation may still make its way over the region, especially the far eastern areas. There’ll be a chance for snow flurries further west in the city. Temperatures will be back in the mid-20s again in the wake of that cold front.
Friday – clearing skies will be accompanied by stagnant cold temperatures with highs again in the mid-20s.
Saturday – as you’ll se below, a strong 1040mb area of high pressure will be parked over the Ohio Valley will be responsible for the sunny, but cold temperatures through at least Saturday night. Highs Saturday may approach 30ºF. Normal highs for this time of the year are closer to 40ºF.Looking Ahead
Climate Prediction Center’s 8-14 day temperature outlook for March 4th to March 10th, with our region in an area expected to experience below normal temperatures.
The beginning of next week looks to feature a fairly active pattern, with two storm systems passing through, one on Monday, and another on Wednesday. With the current track of the second storm, it looks like we are going to be on the south side of the low pressure center. This would allow for warmer air to wrap into the area. We could top 40ºF again, but the tradeoff will be a slushy, wet day maybe with some mixed precipitation to start. Once this second storm passes through, we return to cold temperatures once again.
Another messy start to the work week is in store for us tonight and into Monday night as we endure a long duration, though relatively light intensity winter storm. Luckily for us, the storm track means we’ll avoid the worst impacts of heavy snow (New England will get the worst of it again). There’s some concern for icing again, although the impact should be slightly less serious than last Monday. The rest of the week will be precipitation free, with the exception of some snow showers possible Thursday. Following these snow showers, another shot of brutally cold Arctic air is expected by week’s end, such that highs will only be in the low 20s and even upper teens.
Monday – as you can see from below, the snowfall totals for the southern portion of the NYC area are on the very low end, only 1-2″ expected in NYC and in Long Island. The higher snowfall totals will be north of I-84 and into Connecticut, with the far northern suburbs getting a chance at over 6″. Bear in mind, the snow is expected over an extended period starting tonight through Monday night.
Storm total snow forecast
Ice is a bigger concern for the immediate coastal areas that will see less snow. High temperatures during the day Monday be below freezing, so freezing rain is expected and could deposit between 0.15″-0.25″ of ice when all is said and done. The majority of this is expected to fall Monday morning before temperatures cool off at the coast and precipitation switches back to all snow.
Storm total ice forecast
Tuesday – high temperatures should be right around freezing with clouds diminishing through the day as the storm system from Monday pulls to the east.
Wednesday – a sunny day expected with highs again near freezing.
Thursday – we get our next chance at snow, on the light side, with a passing low pressure system forming over the Great Lakes and moving east towards us high temperatures will be again around freezing.
Friday – a sunny, but frigid day with highs expected to only be in the upper teens and low 20s. As you can see from the chart above, to the west of the low affecting our area on Thursday, there is an area of high pressure which will usher in that reinforcing blast of Arctic air.
The low overall snowfall totals for NYC yesterday wasn’t so much a problem as the significant icing that resulted from an extended period of freezing rain. Ironically, a week the city government took criticism for shutting down the transit system for blockbuster blizzard that did not come to pass here, it was 1/4″ coating of ice that wreaked havoc on the entire transit system (the hours long complete suspension of the 7 train was an extreme example of this). We do get a couple more shots at snow, once tomorrow night into Thursday, and then again during the weekend, but at this time neither event looks to be nearly as high impact as what we’ve experienced the last two weeks.
Wednesday – will be comparatively mild in the context of the rest of the week and the weather we’ve had recently. High temperatures may actually even hit 40 (slightly above normal). However, as a cold front approaches from the west, we’ll have an increasing chance for snow showers, which maybe mixed with rain at the coast during the earlier part of the evening.
Thursday – chance for snow showers continues along the vicinity of the frontal boundary as it passes over us. Following the passage of that cold front, temperatures take a serious drop as northwest winds allow for Arctic air to make a comeback into the area. Lows overnight Thursday could be as low as the single digits for the city and below zero for outlying suburbs. Coupled with a northwest wind of 15-20mph, this would produce dangerously cold wind chill values.
Generally low snowfall totals expected across the region from this event
Friday – high pressure builds in briefly for Friday, giving us the only guaranteed dry day through the forecast period. It will still be cold with highs only in the low 20s.
Saturday – an arctic front will be approaching during the day Saturday, and ahead of the front, we’ll actually about normal temperatures in the upper 30s due to southwest flow. Clouds build in and the chance for snow showers builds during the later part of the day into the overnight.
Sunday – the arctic front mentioned above moves over us but then it looks like it will stall in our vicinity for an extended period from Sunday into Monday. High temperatures will cool to around freezing in the wake of that frontal passage.
At this time, it’s too early to know exactly how much snow we would pick up. It does appear that the precipitation with this system will be generally on the lighter side, except as the low pressure center depicted over southern Illinois in the graphic below approaches the coast. Once it arrives just west of the coast, it could draw in some moisture off the ocean as the counterclockwise cyclonic flow around the eastern periphery of the low induces an extended period of onshore flow (like a sea breeze, except in this case, the air over the water is actually warmer than it is over the snowpack on the land). If this onshore flow is robust enough, it could warm coastal areas up enough to get some rain out of the storm.
Stationary arctic frontYou can see the distinct separation between warm and cold airmasses demarcated by the stationary front depicted in the image above – the front separates the areas with the blue dotted lines from the areas of the warm dotted lines.
All eyes turn towards the imminent Nor’easter that will be bringing significant winter weather impacts to the NYC metro region. Many variables remain unresolved that could affect the eventual outcome, but at this time, it looks like we’re in for a nasty combination of freezing rain, rain, and snow during the day Saturday. At present, forecasts call for somewhere between 2-4″ of snow in the city along with some ice accumulation. Precipitation should fall as all snow north and west of NYC, however, overall accumulation should be slightly less than in the city itself since the most intense precipitation will remain near coastal areas.
Friday – we get a pleasant, sunny, and slightly above average day with high temperatures in the mid-upper 30s.
Saturday – a tricky forecast for Saturday. What we know for sure, with different forecast models in relatively close agreement, is that an area of low pressure now forming over the Texas Gulf Coast will track over the Southeast, and then offshore of North Carolina by Friday night/early Saturday. Once the low moves offshore, it will rapidly intensify, and then track right on or very close to the 40ºN 70ºW benchmark by Saturday afternoon/early evening.
The uncertain part about this scenario has to do with the thermal profiles in place. With no high pressure over us or to the north pumping in cold Canadian air, the depth of cold (sub-freezing) air will be relatively shallow.
As the Nor’easter approaches us, the cyclonic flow around its center will wrap in some relatively warmer air in from the ocean and points south. This makes for a complicated picture – with warmer air aloft (see animation below) during parts of the day, and below freezing air nearer to the surface throughout points in the day, the recipe is set for at least some periods of freezing rain – precipitation that falls as rain, and then freezes on contact with a sub-freezing surface.
During the middle portion of the day, temperatures should be warm enough at the surface to support plain rain for some time, before transitioning back into freezing rain, rain/snow mix, perhaps with a period of all snow before tapering off Saturday evening.
NAM output of temperature profiles at about 4,800 feet between 10AM and 7PM Saturday. Notice the light pink indicating temperatures between 0ºC and 10ºC, which only gives way to below freezing temperatures (light blue, indicating 0ºC to -10ºC) later in the time frame. The center of the Nor’easter is located within the middle of the set of concentric rings you see near NYC.
Deviations in the storm track to the east would result in more cold air being pulled in from the action of northerly winds on the western side of the low pressure center’s cyclonic flow (less freezing rain/rain, more snow), while deviations of the track west would result in warmer air being in place (less snow, more rain). So, even a slight adjustment in the storm track could alter the thermal profiles, and subsequently what kind of precipitation we see.
Sunday – temperatures overnight Saturday will be below freezing, which would allow anything that fell and melted to refreeze. Things do clear up Sunday, with highs about average in the mid-30s, and with clouds diminishing.
Monday – there is a chance for yet another round of mainly snow, potentially heavy, as another coastal storm is possible. Highs will be close to the freezing mark, making this an all snow event if it should pan out.
