Stormy, cold, and chances for snow

Welcome to meteorological winter!! That's right, even though the calendar shows the first day of winter as December 21st, we think of the entire month of December as being winter. And big changes are finally here. Some of you are excited and others... not so much.

Weekend Storm:
This system is a dud for Kansas, but there are several things to cover. It's actually developing today (Thursday) off to the southwest near the 4 Corners area. This will be a nice rain maker for the southern Plains. Widespread 1-2" of rain will fall Friday/Saturday. Although we may see a rain/snow mix in Kansas into early Saturday, it won't amount to much. And I don't expect any big problems on roads around here. One forecast model only shows a light dusting (if that) for southern Kansas.

Monday:

A STRONG cold front will arrive on Monday (Dec. 5) and there will be a chance for some rain over central and eastern Kansas. Timing is a bit uncertain, but it may arrive late in the afternoon and into the evening. I don't expect much, but some .25-.50" seem possible.

Air temperatures for Wednesday

Arctic Air ARRIVES! Tuesday/Wednesday
Here we go. Much colder air will plunge into Kansas on Tuesday with a wide variety of high temperatures, ranging from 20s in the northwest to near 40 farther south and east. This is no doubt the coldest air we've had in a very long time. And it will be coming with wind and snow. Forecast models don't usually handle the snowfall forecast very well this far out because the storm hasn't even formed yet. I'd be prepared for at least the possibility of 2-3". This will likely end up being a fairly fast moving system, which will limit the overall amounts. Track of the storm is key and we will be watching it closely through the weekend into next week.

Millie and I will be back on the air tonight. Looking forward to tracking the big changes.