Arctic air watch - might be the longest stretch

We are nearing the end of this very active stretch of weather with one storm after another. The latest one happens to be farther south than most recent storms, so there isn't much moisture out of this one for Kansas. The center of the storm is actually closer to Houston than any other major metropolitan area. 

However, we are shifting our focus to the major cold snap that is about to unload on the Plains and (maybe) much of the country. There is a good amount of snow cover between Kansas and central Canada, so any cold air coming from that region won't have much chance to warm up. 

Friday afternoon: The very cold air will still be several hundred miles to our north but starting to dislodge and move south. Single digit temperatures can be found over the snow in North Dakota. And that's just the leading edge. 

Saturday: this is when the cold front should be cutting through Kansas, and it will likely happen during the afternoon, so expect the temperatures to start falling quickly later in the day.

Sunday: expectations are that much colder air takes over and because it will be so cold, any amount of moisture will get squeezed out in the form of light, powdery snow. This is not uncommon, but if it sets up like I think it will, there should be much accumulation (probably close to an inch or so) for our immediate area. 

Snow chance? There should be some snow coming through the area too, but remember that the colder we get, the less moisture contained in the snow - this most likely won't amount to very much. This would impact the area Saturday night/Sunday - so anyone with interest in the AFC Championship game should take note of the potential wintry weather that we will be up against for this area. I don't know if this will be the coldest championship game on record, but it might be close.

There may be some smaller systems coming through leading into early February, but the setup for the next few weeks may not be that productive in getting good amounts of moisture into the region. As for the bitter cold, there's plenty of it for the next few weeks.

Into mid-February: It may not be record cold, but much of the country will likely be near or below average on temperatures. I know this is not an overwhelmingly popular season, but there's still a lot of winter to get through before we see the light of spring.

Thanks for spending some time here. Have a great day.