Low pressure was located near St. Louis late in the day today. This system will move northeast tonight eventually becoming a double-barreled low pressure system over the Ohio Valley stretching east into the mid Atlantic states. This will bring a wide range of precipitation into the area tonight.
It still looks like a messy night across central New York. While it stays dry much of the evening, precipitation should move into the Syracuse area after 9 or 10 pm. We are really keying in on the lower few thousand feet of the atmosphere tonight where temperatures will be very close to the freezing mark. This is why we are expecting a mix of wintry precipitation. Here in Syracuse, where temperatures will likely stay above freezing, any snowfall will be brief in nature and should accumulate much. Over higher elevations across central New York, where it will be cooler, the chances for accumulation snow increases. We think in some of the higher elevations south of Syracuse and over the Tug Hill there could be some 3 or 4 inch snow totals by morning. Well to our southwest of the higher elevations of the southern Finger Lakes into the Genesee Valley there could be more than four inches of slushy snow tonight.
Another facet to the weather will be the wind. Winds will increase from the east and east-southeast tonight and tomorrow. Whilst breezy conditions are likely for the entire region during this time frame, down right windy conditions is expected over the higher elevations, especially over 1000 feet where wind gusts past 50 mph are possible. Watch out also around Oneida Lake as they could experience some of these windy conditions also. The worst of the wind will be late tonight and early Wednesday.
There rest of Wednesday will feature a mix of rain and wet snow. Again, the best chance for any accumulation will come over higher elevations.
By Thursday, both storms are forecast to more-or-less consolidate back into one system as it slowly moves through the Northeast. Eventually enough colder air should work back into the region to allow for mainly snow showers to fall at all elevations. Even colder air is forecast to arrive late in the week and especially over the weekend. In fact, we may struggle to approach 30 degrees for daytime high temperatures this weekend. Along with the below average temperatures we expect plenty of clouds and the threat for flurries or snow showers.
