Little Improvement Thursday
Widespread lake effect snow is falling across the Finger Lakes this morning with strong winds blowing around what has already fallen.
A cold north-northwesterly flow of moist air behind low pressure over eastern Canada will keep the lake effect machine cranking.
There will be little change in the intensity or coverage of the snow through the morning hours. For areas that have seen several inches fall, several more should be expected.
Winds will continue to gust between 30-45 mph, reducing visibility and making travel difficult in rural, open areas.
This afternoon, the winds will shift and the snow will be disrupted for a time. Most of the snow will focus over the eastern Finger Lakes with a drop in intensity.
Snow will redevelop further west for a few hours this evening with another inch or two falling.
Light snow will linger into Friday morning for areas from Wayne County southeast.
Winds will remain blustery throughout this entire time, so even if it stops snowing, travel conditions will continue to be impacted by blowing snow.
A few flurries, and perhaps some lake effect off Cayuga Lake for the Ithaca area, will linger into the midday hours Friday before finally tapering off.
Temperatures Falling
The temperature this morning is starting the day in the upper teens and low 20s. Wind chills range throughout the single digits and teens.
As the cold air continues to push south, there will be little change in temperature today.
Temperatures will mostly hold steady before rising a degree or two near midday. By the late afternoon, teens will become more widespread and wind chills will approach 0 degrees.
Cloud cover will hold temperatures in the mid teens overnight and into Friday morning. Wind chills will be near or below zero degrees.
The wind will drop slightly on Friday with gusts of 20-25 mph. High temperatures will only be in the mid and upper teens.
Some partial clearing is possible Friday night, leading to single digits and a few pockets of subzero temperatures by Saturday morning. Areas near the lakes will remain in the teens.
Quiet Stretch of Weather
A large area of high pressure will build into the Finger Lakes this weekend and remain in control of our weather well into next week.
Saturday will have filtered sunshine as some high, thin clouds on the fringe of a much hyped low pressure system clip the region. These clouds will depart early Sunday for a sunny day.
High temperatures Saturday will be in the low 20s. Sunday will be a couple degrees cooler near 20 degrees. Morning lows Sunday could dip below zero in Central New York and the eastern Finger Lakes.
Winds both days will be light.
Monday will again start with temperatures near or below zero for areas east of Cayuga Lake with single digits and low teens elsewhere.
Skies will be sunny throughout the day with temperatures rebounding into the upper 20s and low 30s.
Tuesday will be cloudy but should remain dry with temperatures climbing into the mid 30s.
There will be some chance for flurries during the latter half of next week, but this remains too far out to say exactly when or the nature of any snow. At this time though, none of the snow looks to be heavy or significant.
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Joyce
Am going to a funeral in Middletown on Sat. and hoped to drive down Sat. Morning, (rather than Fri). Do you have any idea what the weather forecast is for Fri and Sat . I will be driving on rte 17. Thank you very much.
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
Should be dry with no travel worries.
Kelly Doolittle
Hi, Drew. When you list 1 – 3 inches of snow for each time of day, (morning, afternoon and evening,) do you mean the potential total of 9 inches, or 1 – 3 throughout the whole day?
Thank you! Kelly
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
The time periods are cumulative…so if every time period maxed it, it could be 9 inches….which honestly doesn’t really reflect the actual forecast well. Dealing with snow accumulations in the zip code forecasts is tricky and I’m not satisfied with how it works for exactly that reason….
SUE and JOHN GREGOIRE
Nice, I like the forecast and radar insets. Much better than the google in text ads.
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
Not supportable long term though. Ad revenue down >50% so far today. I’ll keep working on some solutions though.