Monday, January 6, 2014

WNTV Blog for AM Tuesday: Ploar Plunge Continues; Dangerously Cold Thru Tuesday

Cold Enough For Ya?
Thanks to Gene Hokenson for this interesting picture out of Prior Lake, MN, who obviously seems to be enjoying this cold weather! HA! Glad someone can have a little fun during this Arctic slap.


Dangerous Cold Continues

I can honestly say that I'm not sure if I've seen such large wind chill advisory/warning map in my life! Of course, depending on your location the criteria for these advisories/warnings are much different, but ranging from Florida to the international border, wind chill values could be anywhere from 0F to -60F!
 

Coldest of the Cold

Thanks to a large winter storm that moved through across the central part of the country over the weekend, this latest cold blast came on the heels of the heavy snow dump. The image below shows core of the coldest air on Monday morning over the Midwest/Great Lakes Region.


 
Extreme Cold

Unfortunately, there were a number of locations that didn't even get above 0F on Monday afternoon. Take a look at how cold it was mid-afternoon Monday.
 


 
Factoring in the wind, feels like temperatures were still in the dangerous category even during what typically one of the warmest parts of the day.
 


 
Canada Cryoseisms?

This might be a new one for you... it is for me. It has been so cold in parts of Canada that some residents have been reporting hearing and feeling mini explosions!

"Residents across Toronto and beyond are reporting being awoken early Friday morning by loud booms, which experts say were frost quakes.

Frost quakes, also known as cryoseisms, occur after precipitation and bitterly cold temperatures.

“Ice can be very rigid at cold temperatures, and as it expands it’s trying to find room for itself and it can build up tremendous pressure,” Cathy Woodgold, a seismologist with Earthquake Canada, told CTV Toronto on Friday."

Read more from CTVNews.ca HERE:



Fun With Cold Weather?
Even though the extreme cold can be quite dangerous, it can also be fun if you're cold weather experiments...
Here are some.

Thanks to my good friend Bill Doms for this picture, who threw hot water into the air and turned it into a cloud of tiny ice crystals... pretty cool!

See More from www.mxwxchaser.com HERE:



Here's another one from nziegler who turned a towel into a great looking sled!
Watch the video HERE:



Where is it Warm?
I wish I could teleport back to this spot. It's the Las Vegas airport, where temperatures were in the 60s last week! It was almost a 90F temperature swing for me in just a matter of days...



High Temps For Tuesday
Most locations around the country will cooler than average on Tuesday, except for those in the southwestern part of the country.



In fact, temperatures in the southwestern part of the country will be nearly 5F to 10F above average, while much of the eastern part of the country will be nearly 15F to 30F below average.



Warming Trend!
The good news is that by the end of the week, temperatures look to be warming considerably from where they are now! The image below shows temperatures a few thousand feet off the ground by Friday, note how the nasty cold blob has nearly disappeared



Highs Friday



Highs From Normal Friday


 
Cold & Snowy Start to January 2014
Since the beginning of January, we've had two snow storms that have moved through the eastern half of the country. The latest moved across the central part of the country into the Great Lakes Region with nearly 20" of snow in spots from Indiana to Michigan. Thanks to Steve Scuba who snapped this picture from Toledo, OH this weekend.



Snow Since the Weekend
Here's a nice graph of the snow that fell over the weekend. Note the more intense snowfall tallies closer to the Great Lakes Region, where some picked up nearly 20"



U.S. Snow Cover
With the latest snow events over the past several days, NOAA is now reporting that nearly 52% of the country is covered in snow.



By this time last year, nearly 60% of the nation had been covered in snow



Additional Snow Chances
As we continue through midweek, a weak clipper is expected to dive in from Canada, while an additional low develops in the central part of the country. This will likely bring some light snow chances back into areas that just had snow, but it doesn't appear to be as much as what we've just seen.



5 Day Precipitation Outlook
Here's the precipitation forecast through Saturday. As temperatures warm in to the weekend, some of this precipitation in the central part of the country will be in the form of rain.



Snowfall Forecast
The snowfall forecast through midday Thursday doesn't appear to be much in the central part of the country, however look at the heavier tallies in the western mountains along with those snowfall amounts near the Great Lakes Region.



Significant Lake Effect Snow
Look at some of these impressive snowfall forecasts across the Great Lakes. Lake effect snow tallies through midweek could be added up in feet by the time it's all said and done downwind of Lake Ontario.



Lake Effect Snow
Heavy snow and blowing snow will be significant through Tuesday. Lake effect snow and blizzard warnings have been issued downwind of the eastern Great Lakes.

* TIMING...THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT.

* HAZARDS...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FROM LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...6 TO 12 INCHES TONIGHT...9 TO 17 INCHES TUESDAY...AND 1 TO 3 INCHES TUESDAY NIGHT...LEADING TO STORM TOTALS OF MORE THAN 3 FEET IN THE MOST PERSISTENT LAKE SNOWS.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH...GUSTS TO 45 MPH.

* VISIBILITIES...NEAR ZERO IN WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES.
____________________________

* LOCATIONS...JEFFERSON AND LEWIS COUNTIES.

* TIMING...THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

* HAZARDS...HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...MORE THAN 2 FEET TONIGHT...MORE THAN 2 FEET TUESDAY...10 TO 20 INCHES TUESDAY NIGHT...AND 3 TO 5 INCHES WEDNESDAY LEADING TO STORM TOTALS OF 6 FEET IN THE HEART OF THE BAND.



Thanks for checking in and have a great rest of your week ahead! Don't forget to check me out on Twitter @TNelsonWNTV