A disturbance in the jet stream winds aloft moving through central New York early this evening will shift winds in the lower atmosphere. That will switch the winds in the lower atmosphere. The end result is lake effect snow will swing down into the Syracuse area. Thankfully, the set up for lake effect tonight is not as impressive as earlier today. So even though the snow will be persistent tonight, accumulations will be lighter. Most areas southeast of Lake Ontario (including Syracuse) can expect 1-4” of new snow. There may be some higher totals up over the Tug Hill as some additional moisture rotates back from eastern Canada.
Winds will continue out of the northwest Thursday so lake effect, even if in a weakened state, will continue throughout the day. Although we aren’t expecting any sunshine, drier air aloft will keep the lake effect from becoming too productive Thursday. Most areas will end up with a couple inches or less of accumulation. Outside any lake effect it will be just another blustery and cold day here in central New York Thursday. Wind chills may be barely above the zero mark.
A whole new storm system is forecast to pull out of the middle part of the country for the end of the week. It will pack a punch out in the central Plains with numerous Winter Storm Warnings currently in place for heavy snow. As this storm moves northeast into the Great Lakes, however, it will begin to weaken. Initially, we expect just a few rain or snow showers from this system Friday night into Saturday. In fact, Saturday should end up relatively mild. The one thing we do have to watch out for is a new area of low pressure forming just off the Mid Atlantic coast later Saturday. If this happens close enough to the coast there is a chance for some steadier precipitation here in central New York, either in the form of rain or snow.
