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Weather Blog: A Big Weather Change Next Week

Posted at 7:41 AM, Jan 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-09 09:09:36-05

Good Saturday bloggers,

We are in a calmer pattern for the time being. One storm system this weekend will track well south and then we have a big warm up next week.

The main weather issue this weekend will be the low clouds. Will we see any sunshine? Low clouds are hard to detect at night until we got this product at 41 Action News. The low clouds at night are colored in blue. You can see we are in the blue and the blue covers most of the central and northern Plains. The gray patch in Iowa is not a clear area, but higher clouds over the low clouds. The low clouds are drifting south, so we will be hard pressed to see much sunshine this weekend. A few holes may form in the clouds, so peeks of sun are not out of the question.

Let's go day by day through next Thursday.

TODAY: It will be mostly cloudy and cold with highs in the low 30s. Lows have been around 30 which is 10 degrees above average. This is due to the fact that clouds act like a blanket at night and hold in heat. But, during the day the clouds prevent the surface from warming up. So, highs today will be a just a few degrees warmer than our morning lows. The wind will be light from the north, so no big wind chill factor.

SUNDAY: We will continue to be stuck in the low clouds. A few peeks of sun are possible as highs once again reach the lows 30s after lows 25-30. The one storm system we are tracking will affect the southern USA with snow and rain. Texas into the southeast USA will see accumulating snow. Some snow will occur across Oklahoma and Arkansas as well.

SNOWFALL FORECAST THROUGH MONDAY: There may be a pocket of 5" to 10" of snow from around Abilene, TX to Dallas, TX. 1"-3" of snow is possible across southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. As the storm moves east, it will weaken and encounter warmer air. So, snowfall will be sparse across the southeast USA.

MONDAY: Sunshine will return as the low clouds push off to the east and the warming trend will begin. Highs will reach the 40s with a southwest wind at 5-15 mph.

TUESDAY: Highs will reach the low 50s as southwest winds continue. The red arrows represent the surface wind and if you look closely they form a "U Shape". This is a warming surface wind signature. The computer models often under due the warm up when a "U" shows up. So, we may end up in the mid 50s Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY: The warming trend continues as highs reach at least the mid 50s. We could make a run at 60° as southwest winds and sunshine continue.

THURSDAY: A cold front will be approaching, but it may not arrive until evening. If this occurs it will allow us to make another run at 60°. Clouds and a shower or two may accompany the front, but it will be a mostly dry frontal passage. Also, this front is not that strong as it will drop our temperatures from much above average to near to slightly above average.

The weather pattern will likely turn colder and more active during the last 2 weeks of January. We will look into that in Sundays blog.

Have a great week and stay healthy.