StormTrack Blog

A strong winter storm will move across the country this week.  Clouds will thicken Tuesday with some light snow arriving late in the day.  Snow will switch to a wintry mix in the evening and overnight, and should turn to rain Wednesday morning.  It will be wet the first half of Wednesday, but strong winds will bring much colder air and change the rain back to snow later Wednesday.  As of right now, the timing may work out that there isn’t much snow accumulation, but we shall continue to update the forecast frequently the next 48 hours.

This storm will produce heavy snow to our west (near and west of Chicago into the upper Great Lakes & midwest through the northern and central plains).  Those with travel plans Monday night through early Thursday to points westward need to monitor upcoming forecasts.  Blizzard-like conditions may affect parts of the northern plains by Wednesday with significant snowfall accumulations.

We recorded lows in the mid teens both yesterday and this morning.  These are the coldest lows of the season, and the coldest temperatures since early March.  The numbers were not close to any records — those are near or below zero for most of the area.  However, the lows averaged about 10-12 degrees below the normal of 26°.

Monday featured a high around 40°, but temps will moderate a bit today and Wednesday.

A major storm system will approach from the south Wednesday, bringing some rain in the afternoon and steadier rain by evening.  As the storm exits Thursday, precip may mix with or change to some wet snow for a few hours.  We should not see any accumulation.

A much colder air mass will take residence by late-week.  Highs will struggle to break freezing Friday and Saturday, and some overnight lows will dip into the teens.  This will be the coldest air since March 12th.

Normal high is now 41°, and normal low is 28°.

Normal High & Low:

Dec 1          41° / 28°

Dec 31       32° / 18°

Records:  70° in 1998, -19° in 1989

Normal precipitation:  2.64″

Normal snowfall:  8.3″

The winter solstice occurs at 12:47 pm on December 21.

November was a mild month, finishing about 4.5 degrees above normal, making it the 10th warmest November on record.   Temps ranged from 24° on the 6th to 71° on the 8th.

Precipitation was only 0.67″, which was 2.11″ below normal, making it the 5th driest November on record.  Precipitation occurred on ten days, and there were a few snowflakes.

Although some tropical weather can occur in December, the traditional hurricane season ended November 30.

The National Hurricane Center has released a summary of this year’s lackluster season, which can be found here.