Strong winds, cold wind chills Sunday

Strong winds will send the wind chill to near zero Sunday afternoon across the Finger Lakes.

Quiet, Calm Saturday

The weather across the Finger Lakes will be quiet on Saturday, making for at least one tolerable day this weekend.

Some high clouds will drift across the region on the fringe edge of a nor’easter that is slamming areas unaccustomed to winter storms with heavy snow. Virginia Beach, for example, is expecting about a foot of snow and strong winds off the ocean which may bring blizzard conditions to the resort town today.

Outside of those high clouds, there may be a little lake effect right along the Lake Ontario shore in Wayne and Cayuga county, while parts of the far southwestern Finger Lakes and western Southern Tier see a few flurries off Lake Erie.

The wind today will not be a factor, with only a gentle breeze expected and top wind gusts well under 20 mph.

The glimpses of sun and calm winds will help offset the chilly temperatures. Highs today are expected to top out in the low and mid 20s, with upper teens in some of the higher elevations away from the lakes.

Temperatures will start to drop into the single digits this evening, but will ultimately stall out as winds start to increase overnight.

Blustery, Bitter Sunday

The winds will continue to increase through the night and into Sunday morning. This increase in wind speed will partly be due to a subtle disturbance crossing the area, and partly due to a large difference in air pressure as high pressure builds into the Ohio Valley while the nor’easter lifts towards eastern Canada and continues to strengthen.

The subtle disturbance will move through the Finger Lakes Sunday morning. A brief period of more widespread snow is possible with this disturbance. There is some potential for some squally conditions that could put down a quick inch or so of accumulation. Watch for that potential tomorrow morning, as it could make for some rapidly changing travel conditions.

Behind the disturbance, winds will really crank up for the afternoon. Gusts of 35 to 45 mph will become common place. What snow fell in the morning, or continues to fall as light lake effect across the eastern Finger Lakes, will blow around.

The biggest impact the wind will have will be on the wind chill. As these cold, northwest winds set up, temperatures will struggle to rise beyond the mid teens. Wind chills will spend much of the day near or below zero as a result.

The winds will die out Sunday night, resulting in another cold night with single digits and low teens.

Preview of Next Week

The Finger Lakes will be looking to return to above normal temperatures next week as a series of storm systems tracks into the Great Lakes.

The warmest weather will stretch from Tuesday through Thursday. The degree of the warmth will ultimately depend on the storm tracks and strengths, but 40s seem likely and a brief shot of 50s is not out of the question.

As far as precipitation goes, at this point the rainiest periods look to be later Tuesday and Thursday.

It will also be another windy week. Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night in particular look windy, and there is at least some potential for gusts over 50 mph, especially over higher elevations.

The details on the weather will become clearer over the coming days. The take home messages at this point on next week’s weather are to expect warm, windy and occasionally wet conditions.