winter storm and heavy snow warning, temprature contrasts!!

[WXBUFFJIM]

Good day everyone. A busy day even after the midwestern snowstorm. 6-9 inches of snow yesterday in the Quad Cities area. Snow is over in the midwest. The big story is cold this afternoon across the midwest. 4 in Des Moines, -2 in the twin cities, 9 above right now in the Quad Cities area. Chicago is 22, however they'll drop to near Zero tonight as colder air rushes in on a northwesterly flow. Some places across the midwest will see wind chills between -25 and -35 overnight. This includes Minnepolis, Des Moines, and the Quad Cities while Chicago has -10 to -20 wind chill readings.

Meanwhile beack east, a huge temperature contrast. It's 75 in Norfolk, VA ahead of the strong surface cold front. Norfolk broke a daily record for a third day in the row. However that record streak is about to come to an end very quickly as much colder air moves in from the north. It's 46 in DC, 45 in Baltimore and a chilly 40 at Thomas Point Light at the mid bay buoy. Georgetown, DE is 47, Salisbury 51, and 75 in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. The colder air will win out and we'll feel it everywhere tonight across the mid atlantic states including the tidewater area. That will set the stage for a disturbance to move through Thursday night into Friday in the northwesterly flow. Anywhere from southern PA through Maryland and Virginia including the tidewater area could see a 1-2 inch snowfall. 1-2 inches will likely be a high end total though given the lack of moisture with this thing. Something to watch though as we head on through the week.

My more immediate concern is back over towards the Pacific northwest and a well COVERED Pacific northwest, guaranteed. We haven't talked about this for awhile, but how about a heavy snow warning for Seattle tonight through tomorrow, and a winter storm warning for Portland. Yup, that's not a typo, it's fact.

A potent Pacific storm will plow onto the northwest coast tonight into Tuesday. Snow heavy at times will accumulate in Seattle and Portland and we will also se a much higher accumulation of snow in the cascades. Several concerns come from this storm, first mountain avalanche danger is high because of the heavy snow and wind. Secondly where do we stand record wise for Seattle and Portland for this storm, it's been several years since we seen as much as we're forecasting. More on that in a second. Finally snow is expected to eventually change to rain later Tuesday. So after the heavy sea level snow, we'll have to concern ourselves with possible snowmelt flooding later this week across the Pacific northwest.

Now the question how much? At this time, it appears that over 6 inches to potentially 8 inches of snow falls in Seattle in the city tonight through tomorrow before changeover occurs. This cold airmass is very dense since cold air is denser than warm air. This arctic blast is quite huge and thus the longevity of that arctic blast will combine with moisture to produce these historical amounts. We have not seen a snowstorm like this in Seattle since XMAS of 1996 and that was a big snow maker also. Seattle dropped to 20 this morning at Sea Tac Arpt and teens and single numbers were reported around the city. Stampede Pass dropped to -4 this morning.

As for Portland, Oregon, a solid 4-8 inch snowstorm is in the cards. Any mountainous areas such as the Cascades and Olympic Mountains will see several feet of snow from this storm. With that and the wind combined, we'll have to concern ourselves with high avalanche dangers.

Along the coast of Washington and Oregon, snow amounts of 2-4 inches are expected with gale force winds gusting to over 50 mph. A wicked night tonight and a wicked day tomorrow in the Pacific northwest. An historic winter weather event and worth watching carefully.

That's it for this time, more updates back at ya this evening.

Jim

[JCT777]

Thanks for the info, Jim. I am not impressed with snow possibilities for Thursday night and Friday (at least in southeast PA), but it certainly will be cold from Tuesday through Saturday.

[wx247]

It will interesting to see how much snow piles up in Seattle and Portland indeed.