Shots Of Snow...

Good Morning!

We awakened to a visit from another in the series of clipper systems that will continue to rotate through the area for the next few days.  Just as I said yesterday, you can expect around an inch of snow per visit, give or take, with a bit of mixed sunshine between snow shots.

Taking a look at Tru-Track Doppler, you can see the snow working through the area, it's coincident with a low-level jet streak (that's a section of air with wind noticeably higher than the surrounding winds aloft, typically between 4 and 10 thousand feet), and it's being pushed almost due west even though winds are out of the south down here on the ground.

All of this is being driven by a surface low up in Canada, and a trough that is allowing cold air into it, that cold air is impacting us.  Forecast model solutions indicate that we'll see maybe a brief pocket of clearing or two between now and Saturday, but what you should prepare for is gray, snowy in bursts, and chilly.

Here's a look at the forecast for Jackson and vicinity:

Today, mainly cloudy, perhaps a few peeks of sun, bursts of snow, high 26, wind SW 7-14 MPH.  These will put wind chills into the single digits.

Tonight, a break or two in the clouds, still some shots of snow, cold, lows near 15, wind chills down around zero. Wind SW 5-10.

Friday, more clouds than clear skies, periods of light snow, colder, high only 19.  Wind SW 6-12 MPH.

More forecast for you later.  Have a great day!

Hump Day Peek...

Good Morning!

Cloudy skies and light snow in the area right now.  Have a look at this radar picture.  It's a grab from an alternate system because the primary isn't resolving the snow very well today...

And here's a quick look at what I see for us over the next several days, as well as the forecast for Jackson and vicinity through tomorrow.

 Have a wonderful day!  Blessings.

We Just Miss A Big Storm...

Good Morning!

Sunny skies with maybe just the occasional cloud in the area right now, but you can expect that to change in the next several hours.  We should have some light snow in the area by nightfall or shortly thereafter, and falling temperatures throughout the day as the comfy above average readings that helped us get rid of some of of this snowpack move off to the east.  Let's take a deeper dive and see what we have:

First let's have a peek at temperatures across the country:

WINTER RETURNS:  Reading will decline as the day progresses, ending up in the mid 20's by the time it's all said and done.  Off to the northwest of us and across the lake in Wisconsin, they are bracing for some fresh snow to fall, north of us here in Michigan, as much as 7 inches by tomorrow.  Here's the current Tru-Track Doppler picture with satellite underlaid:

Thankfully the low pressure that's causing all of this slides just off to the northwest, keeping us on the less snowy south side of it. We don't escape totally unscathed though, as we do pick up an inch of new snow, give or take.  After that, we see...

A NEW ALBERTA CLIPPER PATTERN:  I'm just reinforcing what I said in prior forecasts, where we are seeing a series of upper disturbances rotate through the area every day and a half or so, and each one of these has the potential to bring us some fresh snow.  By the time the week is over, don't be surprised to see that about 3-4" of snow has fallen, even though we should have time to plow and shovel it away between events.  I am keeping my eye on a Clipper for Saturday.  Forecast model data indicates that the upper low will slide by us to the south.  If that verifies, we could get a couple or three inches of snow out of that one, as we'll be in the strongest cold side sector of the storm.  Have a look at the Weather Prediction Center 5 Day map:

And that new snow won't go anywhere for awhile as we deal with...

FALLING TEMPERATURES:  Temperatures over the next several days will be trending down, with lowest readings bottoming out around 10 degrees for the weekend.  We'll see daytime highs taking a nosedive as well, with readings topping out in the mid 20's over the next few days, as we get shots of colder air in here between Clippers.

Here's a look at the forecast for Jackson and vicinity:

Have a great day!  Blessings.

Morning Weather

Here's what you can expect as you head out shortly:

Winter Reload...

Good Morning!

One more day of mild weather before we get back into the more seasonable conditions.  Let's get straight to it:

SAY GOODBYE TO THE MILD STUFF:  A veritable heat wave winds down with colder air pushing in here from the northwest.  Satellite imagery shows clouds in the area extending almost due southwest all the way down into Louisiana and Alabama.  Down there they have some showers and storms to worry about along the Gulf Coast.  Here, mainly clouds with maybe a shower or two.  Temperatures start coming down later this afternoon.  Temperatures around 30 are the norm in this part of the world this time of year, we see readings as much as 15 degrees above that.  As the milder air gets pushed out of the way, you can get ready for more seasonable readings, with daytime highs in their normal 23-30 degree range.

A BIT OF PRECIPITATION ON TAP:  And I use the generic term precipitation because as we transition back to more winter-like conditions, we'll also trade our rain in for snow.  I don't see a lot, maybe three inches spread between now and this weekend.  A stray shower is possible today, but the better chance looks to be tomorrow, and this will start as liquid or a mix, and quickly get to all snow as the temperatures fall.  Have a look at the 5 Day Precipitation Map from the Weather Predcition Center:

We catch a break here as we start off high enough temperature-wise that initially rain should be the precipitation mode.

Now that's liquid precipation, so the fact that we are in the half-inch category would normally mean up to six inches of snow.  Not the case here, as we start off with temperatures above freezing, so some of this falls as rain.  I expect by tomorrow night that we'll start to see some snow, with accumulations up to an inch by morning drive on Wednesday.  The thinking now is that we'll see around an inch of snow through Thursday.

LOOKING DOWN THE LINE:  I'm seeing a pattern of upper waves rotating through the area, and they look like enough to give us some brief snows roughly every 36 hours through early next week.  Now by brief, I mean events that should top out under an inch and a half in most places.  By the time it's all done you could have upwards of six inches or so of snowfall, but with it spread out, it shouldn't be any major deal.  It is winter in the midwest after all.

Here's the forecast:

Have a great day!

Quick Look For Sunday

Here's a look at the forecast for today - another seasonably mild day on tap:

Detailed outlook later today!