January Stats, Some Rain and Arctic Temps
Hello and happy Thursday everyone, hope all is well on this 9th of February. Another ‘mostly’ quiet day across the nation, but a couple of radar sites are getting a workout today. January was an interesting month for the U.S. and another surge of colder air is heading into the Lower 48 for the weekend.
Alaska’s Record Setting January
Extremely cold temperatures across the state sat around for many days allowing the average January temperature for a number of locations to set the all-time coldest January on record. Thanks the the NWS out of Fairbanks for the picture below:
Ice, Ice, Baby
Because temperatures have been so cold, ice thickness across parts of Alaska have grown to near 4 feet!
Big Contrast
NOAA recently released an article detailing the warm January that the U.S. Lower 48 had. In fact, 2012 boasted the 4th warmest on record, see the full article HERE:
National Watches & Warnings Map
Other than a little wintry weather across the Texas Panhandle prompting advisories, there are no major weather worries out there today. Looking ahead, cold air moving over the Great Lakes region for the end of the week and this weekend will allow the lake effect snow machine to kick in. LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCHES have been issued.
Lake Effect Snow Expected in Chicago
Thank to the NWS out of Chicago, IL for the information below:
“A strong cold front will move southeast across the region Friday morning, bringing in much colder arctic air as we head into the weekend. As this cold air passes over the warmer waters of Lake Michigan, lake effect clouds and snow showers will develop, and these snow showers may become heavy Friday afternoon and evening. Locally heavy bands of lake effect snow will likely initially affect the Illinois shore and the IL/IN state line areas Friday afternoon and evening, before focusing more on northwest Indiana later Friday night and early Saturday as winds shift from the north-northeast to the north, and eventually northwest by midday Saturday. The lake effect snow showers should move east of Porter county early Saturday afternoon. While many areas may see relatively light accumulations, some localized areas from southeast Cook into far eastern Will counties, and northern Lake and Porter counties could pick up 6 inches or more of snow before the precipitation threat ends Saturday. A Lake Effect Snow Watch is in effect for these areas.“
Thanks for checking in on this Thursday, have a great rest of you week!
-Meteorologist Todd Nelson-