Much-needed moisture and more chances for snow soon

The latest winter system to come rolling through is going to bring some nice moisture to Kansas, but don't expect the drought monitor to change much at all in the coming days/weeks. We expect the system to go right over Kansas, which sounds nice, but the heaviest snow falls north of the storm track. In order for us to take full advantage of what this one has to offer, we would need to be in Nebraska. 

Look at the heavier snows that will fall in Nebraska through Wednesday night:

Much of Kansas will have a chance to get at least .25" of rain (the southwest may not get quite as much), with higher totals in central and eastern Kansas (closer to .50")

I've heard it said that if you aren't getting rain, it's nice to know some who are - like in California. Since November 1st, look at the huge amounts of moisture falling in places that have also struggled against drought conditions. Los Angeles has had about as much rain in the last 75 days as southwest Kansas has had in over a year. 

What's Ahead?

The pattern will continue to be fairly active, but that doesn't always translate to measurable rain/snow. Another system will make its way through the 4 Corners area Friday night and into Saturday. Southwest Kansas may see some very light snow in that timeframe, but accumulations (if there are to be any) wouldn't be much at all. Better chances for light snow will happen down in New Mexico and areas just south of the KS/OK line.

Yet another system will be coming down across the Rockies early next week. You've probably heard me mention before that when low pressure approaches from the north, moisture is usually pretty scarce for Kansas. I don't think we should get our hopes up for this one to be a good source of rain/snow, but there are some pretty big disparities in the computer data. One model is a little more aggressive on snow for Kansas on Monday/Tuesday (next week), while the one shown here is basically just a few hours of light snow and its over.

Colder air (even some Arctic air) looks to be coming soon:

Be prepared for January to wind up cold and the beginning of February to have plenty of chilly weather too. I don't think it will be quite as bad as what we had just prior to Christmas, but safe to say we are soon moving away from the January thaw that has been taking place in much of the country.

Thanks for spending a few minutes here.