Cold Snap and Weekend Storm

It's a good time to be a GSD Staffer, as we have lots to talk about.

First up is the bitterly cold air mass that has descended upon us. Goodbye, Temps in the Twenties! We'll see you in about 10 days. 

The next 10 days will be very cold--we'll below normal--and the very worst of those times, when you will not want to be outside for very long, will be this Thursday and next Tuesday. Highs in the single digits on those days, with the lows nearing -10. Yes, this means we will be discussing possible freeze delays for students on Tuesday, but that's a long way off and the weekend storm--if it develops--could scramble things up and change that forecast.

The reason we're entertaining the idea of a big storm this weekend is that key ingredients are in play for the formation of a nor'easter. There are two storms out there, and they could possibly join forces to make a mega-storm on the coast. One storm is fairly weak and will make its way due east out of the plains. The other storm is down there in the Gulf of Mexico and will track northeastward, causing all kinds of problems in the South (ice, mainly) due to the cold air gripping eastern half of the US.

The computer models are all over the place right now, but some of them are predicting the phasing (combining) of these two storms (a.k.a. low pressure systems, pieces of energy) along the mid-Atlantic coast. If that happens, we could see a major New England snowstorm this weekend with some areas getting a foot of snow.

So what do we think? Our collective GSD gut tells us that this strong cold air in place (a.k.a. a high pressure system) will make things much harder for the joining forces of the two storms. Instead, we will see periods of light snow over the weekend but not much consistently moderate to heavy snow. That's just what our gut tells us. Things can change. It's weather. That's what it does.

Enjoy vacation week. Bundle up, especially on Thursday. Try to limit exposed skin to the air during this cold snap.