With the snow storm exiting the area, strong northeastly winds will blow at 15-25 mph with gusts around 30 mph today.

The snow that fell, especially after midnight, was powdery…and this will cause a lot of blowing and drifting snow.  Even in areas that received only a few inches of snow, drifts of over a foot are possible.

The blowing snow will create problems for driving.  Roads that were plowed and cleared will get snow blown back onto them.

Click here for the latest county snow emergency levels.

Here is the latest satellite pictures from above Lake Erie showing the extent of the ice cover that has developed this winter so far.  It is clear that the western basin of the lake, which also happens to be the shallowest part of Lake Erie has the most extensive ice cover. 

Date Taken: January 31st 2010:

Date Taken: January 21st 2010:

At this point last year, the extent of the ice cover was much greater due to a frigid January.  Here is the month to month comparison for the average monthly temperature for the past two January’s:

January 2009:  The average temperature was -7.4 degrees below normal

January 2010: The average temperature was +0.4 degrees above normal

Yet another big storm will sweep across the southern part of the US.  This storm will not be as strong as the last one, and its track and affected areas will be different.  The storm is currently developing in the southern Plains, and will track across the southeast US and then up the mid-Atlantic coast.

Another round of heavy snow will hit parts of North Carolina and Virginia up into the northeast.  This storm will not have the widespread freezing rain that the last one did, and with slightly warmer temperatures, the rain/snow line will be a bit farther north (and more inland to the east).

At this point, it looks like the brunt of the storm will go well to our south and east.  The northern edge of it will swipe the area Friday night into Saturday.  A secondary piece of energy will come from the northern Plains through our area, to help trigger a bit more snow shower activity.  As of now, it looks like the storm may provide a bit of snowfall for our area, especially areas well to the south and east of Toledo.

During the past few days, computer model runs have wavered a bit on the exact track and impact on our area.  So, we will continue to refine and update the forecast as the storm gets closer.

Under cloudy skies, and intense television lights, Phil saw his shadow.  According to the tradition, this means six more weeks of winter.

I am leaving this post uncategorized, since we don’t have a category for musings from fuzzy animals.