Snow today for some - pattern change into Christmas week

Keystone Resort - Colorado - 9" of snow overnight

The big winter storm storm dumping snow on Colorado and Nebraska slides by to our northwest for today. It has dumped major snow on the High Plains and will continue it's move to the northeast through Wednesday. Our focus, with just 10 days to go before Christmas, is whether or not we will have snow before the holiday. Some want a white Christmas and others probably prefer sunshine and warm weather (good for traveling).

After some chilly weather at the end of this week (highs in the 30s and 40s), we will see a BIG warm up this weekend. Highs are expected to get back into the 50s for Saturday and Sunday. And it will turn windy too. The warmth will return ahead of the developing weather pattern change that is due in during Christmas week.

The way it's looking now is that a weak cold front will come through on Monday, but it only drops the temperatures slightly. A stronger system should be developing Wednesday/Thursday, but afternoon highs may still be too warm for any snow. We will continue to watch the computer models and see what develops out of the pattern shift for next week. I don't think very many of us will have a White Christmas, but if you are still dreaming of one, there is still time for the models to adjust their thinking. 

December is, on average, the snowiest month of the year in Wichita. Some areas are still waiting on the first one inch to fall. The average first 1 inch of snow for south central Kansas is December 18th. But we will be well past the 18th before we even have a chance of measurable snow.