Temperatures Far Below Average
Another cold, blustery day is ahead for the Finger Lakes in the wake of Tuesday’s cold front.
Parts of the region are waking up to another snowy morning thanks to lake effect that developed overnight on the cold northwest winds. In the favored snowbelts south and west of Syracuse, several inches have fallen.
The snow will wind down this morning now that the sun has risen and as dry air works into the region. As the lake effect dissipates, sunshine will increase. Mostly clear skies are expected this afternoon and for much of the overnight period.
Despite the sun, it will be another cold day. High temperatures will fail to reach 40 degrees in many areas, making the highs today nearly 20 degrees below average. Thirties for highs in late April is about as cold as our weather records show.
On top of the cold temperatures will be strong winds again today. While the peak gusts yesterday were in the western half of the region, today will be the eastern half’s turn for gusts of 40-50 mph. That isn’t to say it won’t be breezy in the west, with gusts there of 35-40 mph. These winds will be from the northwest.
The wind will finally die off this evening. With the clear skies, this will allow temperatures to rapidly drop into the 20s for all but areas directly along a lakeshore. Some thin clouds will work in after midnight, halting the freefalling temperatures in the low and mid 20s.
Tomorrow’s average low for Ithaca is 36 degrees with a record low of 23 degrees.
More Active Weather
The weather will remain active as well, with multiple weather systems targeting the region in the coming days. These forecasts remain fluid with a number of uncertainties yet to be firmly resolved.
First, a band of precipitation on the northern edge of a low pressure system to our south is expected to slowly lift into the Finger Lakes tomorrow.
This will likely start as some snow before gradually turning over to rain. Some areas may not see the snow change to rain until late in the afternoon. This is most likely over the higher elevations of the eastern half of the Finger Lakes region. A few places in the southern half of the region could see an inch of snow in the morning.
Temperatures tomorrow may end up even colder than today, with most of the region in the mid 30s for much of the day. Warmer air will move in aloft first to change the snow to rain, but surface temperatures will follow slowly as they rise toward 40 Thursday night.
Rain will continue to fall lightly Thursday night and possibly into early Friday. Rain showers could linger as long as the early afternoon for areas along and east of a Corning-Ithaca-Cortland line.
High temperatures on Friday should range through the low and mid 40s.
Saturday will bring a reprieve with sunshine filtered through thin clouds and temperatures pushing back into the 50s.
However, another system will swing in for Sunday. Rain may mix with or change to snow. If snow ends up falling, several inches could accumulate, especially over higher elevations.
There is little change in the pattern expected for the final week of April or even into early May. The long range forecast hints at a change for the warmer during the second week of May, but I remain highly skeptical of the models that far in advance.
