One final quiet day before sloppy Saturday

Inbound Weather System

Today will be another quiet, cloudy day in the Finger Lakes.

A large, but not overly strong low pressure is centered near St. Louis, Missouri this morning. This low will meander north-eastward toward the Upper Great Lakes today.

Clouds on the leading edge of this system will remain in place over the Finger Lakes today, but precipitation will stay well to our west.

South and southeast winds ahead of the low will bring warmer air into the region with highs today in the low and mid 40s. Temperatures tonight will slide back into the 30s.

Precipitation will enter the Finger Lakes region around sunrise on Saturday. While the overall area of precipitation will not be overly large, it will be slow moving, taking most of the daylight hours to clear to the area.

This area of precipitation will be a sloppy mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. The best chance for icy conditions will be in the morning and especially across the Southern Tier. The best chance for snow will be on the back edge of the precipitation during the afternoon hours.

Terrain and elevation will likely play a large role in precipitation types. It is very possible that Point A will see one precipitation type, but Point B a mile down the road at a different elevation will see something completely different at the same time.

The bottom line, therefore, is this: Expect travel delays and slushy, slick roads tomorrow, especially in the morning. Also expect a period of rain, ending as snow. This will not be a crippling event by any means but is worth some due caution.

Saturday evening will be rather quiet with just a few stray flurries about. On and off snow showers will continue into Sunday and possibly even Monday. Temperatures Sunday will be well above the freezing mark, so most roadways will be just wet.

Next Week’s Weather

Some light lake effect snow may linger into Tuesday or even Wednesday with steady northwest winds. The snow will be most likely during the nighttime and morning hours.

Snow accumulations will be minor with most areas seeing an inch or less on any given day.

High temperatures will slowly retreat. Look for highs to reach the mid 30s on Monday, the low 30s on Tuesday, and the upper 20s on Wednesday.

Thursday looks to the best chance for sunshine as high pressure passes through. Temperatures will be around 30 degrees.

A weak system will approach the region on Friday with some light snow and/or rain showers. Those could linger into early Saturday.

High temperatures could push back into the 40s with that system.

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