Weekend Weather
Bands of snow are crossing the Finger Lakes early Friday morning.
Some of the snow has been associated with a cold front, while other bands are more purely derived from lake effect.
Much of the anticipated accumulation for today has already occurred with the more widespread snow bands exiting the region to the south. Lake effect snow will continue to move through sporadically during the morning before tapering off to a few lingering flurries this afternoon.
A few places may see an additional inch or so through sunset, but most areas will see less.
Blustery northwest winds will set up this morning and continue into the first half of the afternoon. Wind speeds will be around 15 mph with some gusts as high as 40 mph.
Temperatures will retreat a few more degrees, ending up near or slightly above 20 degrees this afternoon.
Some localized lake effect may flare up again this evening, particularly across Wayne, northern Cayuga, and Onondaga counties. Again, accumulations should be limited to around an inch, maybe locally two. The rest of the region will be partly to mostly cloudy with a few stray flurries.
Overnight lows will drop into the low and mid 10s. A few localized colder pockets will be possible.
Clouds will thicken and increase after midnight. Near or shortly after dawn, widespread light snow will move in from the west. Light snow will continue through the morning before tapering off during the early afternoon. An inch or so of accumulation is expected throughout the area.
Winds for much of Saturday will be light from the south, and some warmer air will attempt to push into the region. This should lead to a split in afternoon highs, with low and mid 30s from Penn Yan and Ithaca south and west, but mid and upper 20s to the north and east.
Saturday night will be quiet, and some clearing will take place early. In fact, there may even be a little sun late Saturday before it sets. Winds will briefly turn to the north, and temperatures will reach their low by midnight. Temperatures will range through the 10s with some colder pockets in the single digits.
Winds will go back to the south after midnight, and temperatures will mostly be in the low or mid 20s by dawn Sunday. South winds in the morning will turn to the west for the afternoon with speeds around or over 10 mph.
Skies will be a mix of cloudier periods in the morning and sunnier periods in the afternoon. High temperatures should make it into the low and mid 40s.
Active Weather Next Week
The weather next week continues to look highly active, but with the nature of the incoming weather systems, the impacts of each remain highly uncertain.
The first, and perhaps strongest, system next week will roll in late Monday into Tuesday. Out ahead of this system, most of the daytime hours Monday will be dry, albeit with cloudy skies.
Monday morning winds will be light from the east and southeast, but these will increase in the afternoon and evening to 10-15 mph. Afternoon highs should reach the upper 30s and maybe low 40s before precipitation arrives.
The longer it takes for precipitation to arrive, the lower the chances for rain or ice. Still, over the region as a whole, precipitation types may be mixed. Snow will be more likely to the north and east, while ice or rain is more likely to the south and west.
There are major uncertainties in both the precipitation type through Monday night and the intensity of the precipitation. Snow should become more common Tuesday morning, but may get cut off by dry air wrapping into the system.
The models have been consistently showing the highest snow accumulations across the far northeastern reaches of the region, such as the Syracuse area. Meanwhile, little to no snow is consistently being shown across the western Southern Tier.
I will continue to monitor this through the weekend and will provide updates as necessary. Particularly be on the lookout for updates if you have travel plans after sunset Monday or Tuesday morning.
Wednesday looks quiet, though a few lingering morning flurries may be possible. The next system rolls in on Thursday and has many of the same questions as Monday evening. Precipitation type is highly uncertain, but this system overall looks weaker than the early week system.
Yet another weather maker will be hot on its heels, with precipitation possible for the first part of next weekend. Again, type and amounts are highly uncertain this far out.
Temperatures throughout next week will be highly influenced by these systems. Generally speaking, though, most days should at least briefly get above 35 degrees. This will not prevent the possibility of impactful wintry precipitation during the nighttime hours, though.
Stay tuned.
More Information:
» Finger Lakes Weather Radar
» Zip Code Forecasts
» Get the FLX Weather Mobile App
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This graphic represents an average over the entire Finger Lakes region. Localized variations should be expected. Don’t Miss an Important Update
