Cloudy, Quiet Thursday
The weather across the Finger Lakes will be rather quiet on Thursday, but it will simply be the calm preceding the next weather maker to target the region.
An area of high pressure arcs from central Canada southeast into the Mid-Atlantic region this morning, keeping the Finger Lakes weather calm.
Temperatures have cooled off into the 20s overnight and will get only a slight rise throughout the day.
Afternoon highs should mostly top out in the mid and upper 20s with skies remaining cloudy.
Winds are out of the south across the Midwest in response to a developing low pressure system over the middle of the nation.
This push of warmer air will send a warm front towards the Finger Lakes tonight into Friday.
Snow and Ice Friday Morning
Precipitation should begin to break out ahead of the front as early as this evening.
To start, the precipitation will fall as light snow, but the snow will increase in intensity overnight.
Most of the snow should fall across the northern 2/3rds of the Finger Lakes, largely missing the Southern Tier.
As warmer air works in, first aloft and then at the surface, precipitation will transition to an icy mix and possibly even plain rain Friday morning.
During this transition to icy precipitation, the widespread precipitation will push off to the northeast, leaving spottier, more showery precipitation across the Finger Lakes.
This should keep ice accumulations down, but areas of slick travel are still likely.
Areas closer to Lake Ontario and further east will take longer to turn from snow to ice and could see several inches of snow.
Most of the Finger Lakes should only see an inch or so of snow followed by a coating of ice.
A few areas of ice may linger into the afternoon, but most areas should turn to rain showers by then as temperatures push into the mid and upper 30s.
Rain Saturday, Christmas Snow
Rain showers will continue Friday night and into Saturday, gradually transitioning back into a period of widespread precipitation by Saturday morning.
Steady rain, some heavy, will fall throughout Saturday morning and into the afternoon.
Many areas could see a half-inch of rain during the day on Saturday.
Late Saturday afternoon and evening, cold air will begin to work back in, changing the rain to a brief period of snow before the precipitation ends. A quick slushy inch or two could fall Saturday evening.
All eyes will then be on the next system which will arrive late Sunday afternoon.
Snow will be possible through Sunday night and into Christmas morning on Monday. Snow amounts remain uncertain, but several inches could be possible.
More on this as we get into the weekend.
NWS issues advisory: Snowfall, freezing rain expected in FLX – FingerLakes1.com
[…] to FLX Weather Meteorologist Drew Montreuil precipitation will begin during the evening hours on Thursday, increasing in intensity […]
Jackie
Thanks Drew! We are travelling from central PA to Moravia, planning on leaving tomorrow morning. Would it be better to travel this evening?
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
Hi Jackie! I am not expecting much precipitation south of about Ithaca so most of your drive should be fine regardless of time. For that stretch between the Southern Tier and Moravia, most of the icing would probably happen before 10 am…so depending on when you leave yoy may be just fine. Tonight should be decent as well if you opt for that though snow could start in those areas by 8 or 9 pm. Safe travels!