Clouds increase ahead of Tuesday snow

finger lakes weather forecast monday january 25 2021 clouds snow tuesday winter weather advisory
Clouds will gradually increase today ahead of a weather system that will spread some snow and ice into the Finger Lakes for Tuesday. [Photo by Gwen Moshier]

Tuesday Snow Event

A gradual increase in clouds today will signal an incoming weather system that will spread steady snow across the region tomorrow.

Temperatures are cold this morning after a night of mostly clear skies and calm winds. The wind will remain nearly calm for much of today before picking up from the east-southeast tonight.

Thin clouds will gradually build in from the southwest. At first, the sun should have no problem shining through the clouds. As the day goes on, the clouds should thicken, especially during the latter half of the afternoon.

Temperatures will rebound on the strength of the sun, reaching a high near or just above 30 degrees for most areas. A drop back through the 20s is expected this evening, with pockets of upper teens developing.

After midnight, temperatures should start to rise again with low and mid 20s by dawn Tuesday.

Snow will start to move in from the southwest during the hours leading up to dawn and should overspread the region by the midmorning.

Some of the snow will turn to sleet or freezing rain across the southwestern half of the Finger Lakes. Areas such as Dansville, Bath, Elmira, and Owego could see a glaze of ice. The icy mix may make it as far north as Canandaigua, Penn Yan and Ithaca, but all snow is expected further northwest.

The snow will come down steadily at a moderate clip through the early afternoon before transitioning to lighter snow. Ice will decrease through the afternoon with all snow by Tuesday evening. Light snow will persist through Tuesday night before tapering off Wednesday morning.

The greatest accumulations will be near the shore of Lake Ontario and in the northeastern quadrant of the region. About 4-6 inches should fall across Cortland, Onondaga, and northern Cayuga County. Meanwhile, areas the turn to the icy mix should be limited to 1 or 2 inches. Most areas will be in the 2-4 inch range in between.

I will have a full snow report this afternoon with a detailed snow map. I did not publish the map this morning so I could get this blog out sooner.

Note: As of 8 AM, Winter Weather Advisories were issued for the western half of the Finger Lakes for counties under the jurisdiction of the NWS in Buffalo. Additional advisories further east will need to be issued by the NWS in Binghamton. The NWS Alerts API is currently down, so my alerts page is showing no alerts. I do not know how long their outage will last.

finger lakes weather 7-day forecast monday january 25 2021
This graphic represents an average over the entire Finger Lakes region. Localized variations should be expected. Click to enlarge.

Cold Late Week, then Warming

After highs in the low 30s Tuesday, Wednesday will top out in the mid 20s as cold air starts to move back in.

Skies should remain cloudy on Wednesday with just a few lake effect flurries south of Lake Ontario.

A subtle front will slide through late Wednesday night, increasing northwest winds for Thursday. Gusts around 30 mph are expected throughout the day.

Again, the response from the Great Lakes will be limited, with just a few snow showers. Temperatures Thursday will start in the upper teens and low 20s but will not gain any ground during the day. Some areas may even slip a couple degrees Thursday afternoon.

Another small front will move through Thursday night. A stronger response from the Great Lakes is expected behind this front, with a spray of snow showers and a few squalls Friday.

Friday will be the coldest day so far this winter, with temperatures mostly in the mid to upper single digits with a few low teens sprinkled in. Little change in temperature is expected for the nighttime, though thanks to persistent lake effect cloud cover.

Temperatures will gradually moderate through the weekend. A weather system early next week will need to be monitored for the potential for some more snow.

After that, we should enter a warming trend that will push temperatures back through the 30s and possibly even warmer as we go through the first week of February.

More Information:

» Finger Lakes Weather Radar

» Finger Lakes Weather Radar

» Zip Code Forecasts

» Your Forecast
finger lakes weather 7-day forecast monday january 25 2021
This graphic represents an average over the entire Finger Lakes region. Localized variations should be expected.

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Follow Meteorologist Drew Montreuil:
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil has been forecasting the weather in the Finger Lakes region since 2006 and has degrees in meteorology from SUNY Oswego (B.S. with Honors) and Cornell (M.S.). Drew and his wife have four young boys. When not working or playing with the boys, he is probably out for a run through the countryside.

2 Responses

  1. John and Sue Gregoire
    |

    Drew,
    For a good bit now we do not get your report until we revisit email in late day making the info stale. Have you altered your publication schedule perhaps to take care of product to paying customers, like the Geneva radio station, first? Thought I would mention this if it might be a server problem and not intended,

    You and yours please be careful and stay well.
    Happy 2021!
    John

    • Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
      |

      Hi John!

      I haven’t made any significant changes to my schedule. I still send the emails between 7-8 am every weekday. Lately, it has been closer to 8, or even a bit after, now that winter has woken up. I get an email each time the server is done sending the daily emails and haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.

      The work I do for my clients is afternoon/evening work, so it doesn’t impact my morning update schedule at all.

      Hope you are doing well! Happy 2021!
      – Drew