Posts

John Homenuk

Brutal cold likely to start the work week

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Winter will mark its arrival with a bang on Monday and Tuesday mornings. The warm, humid days of December may very well seem like a distant memory as an arctic airmass seeps into the Northeast United States, first on Sunday and again Monday with the passage of an arctic front. Very cold mid and upper level atmospheric temperatures will dive southward into the region from Canada, as high pressure builds in overhead.

With the passage of an arctic cold front on Monday will come very cold air, blustery winds, and the potential for a few snow showers or squalls. While these snow showers aren’t expected to bring any notable accumulation, they may be just enough to reduce visibility at times on Monday.

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John Homenuk

Monday Overview: Warming trend throughout the week

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While the frost remains on car windshields and grassy surface this morning, there is some brighter and warmer news in the future. Temperatures by the middle part of this work week will warm quite dramatically, with high temperatures again approaching and exceeding 70 F in many locations. As we look ahead, however, the rest of Monday will remain quite cold and blustery.

Low temperatures on Monday morning bottomed out in the 20’s throughout much of the interior, with a hard freeze occurring in many locations. Even in New York City, low temperatures approached freezing — although we are still awaiting official numbers. Islip, NY unofficially broke their daily low temperature record when they reached a temperature of 30 F shortly before sunrise.

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John Homenuk

Surge of cold air, first interior freeze this weekend

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A winter-like weather pattern across the Continental United States will bring the coldest air of the season to much of the Northeast this weekend. Temperatures are expected to fall below freezing during the evening and early morning hours across parts of the interior on Sunday and Monday mornings, with the first frost and freeze of the season looking increasingly likely in those areas.

The surge of cold air is being enabled by a large upper level trough, which will amplify from Canada into the Northeast States this weekend. As is typical during the winter months, a large ridge over the West Coast of the United States will help cold air dive southward to its east, into the Eastern United States. Temperatures at the surface (where we are) are expected to fall 15 to 20 degrees below normal by Monday morning.

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John Homenuk

Cool Friday will lead us into a pleasant weekend

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Yes, it was cold out this morning. Temperatures fell into the upper 20’s in the interior early on Friday morning, and the middle to upper 30’s nearer to the city. Urban heat allowed for many areas to stay closer to 40. Regardless of the exact numbers, it was very chilly and a few mangled snowflakes even made it down to the surface as a very weak disturbance kicked off some showers and snow showers this morning. This weather resembles March more than late April, for sure.

The good news is that over the next 24 hours, things will improve. Despite a continued colder than normal pattern, a mid level disturbance will slide south of the region on Saturday. A modifying airmass will allow for temperatures to warm up in the mid levels and at the surface by Saturday afternoon. Think of it this way: An airmass that surges into our area from Canada, this time of year, can’t maintain it’s severity if it’s cut off from the source of the cold air. This allows the airmass to modify to its surroundings, hence why cold air like what we saw this morning doesn’t typically last more than a day or two.

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