An Unsettled Weekend

Friday, January 16, 9:30AM

A predominantly northwesterly flow of Canadian air is setting up shop for the foreseeable future across the eastern US, so oscillating temperatures from slightly below to well below normal should be the rule going into next week. Unfortunately, the southern jet isn’t cooperating (yet?), so it will also be relatively dry. The exception is a couple of northern vortices presently diving down out of Canada that may or may not bring some snow to areas on Saturday and/or Sunday. Models are vastly different in how the weekend plays out, but the euro is suggesting a coating to as much as an inch in some northern areas tomorrow, while the gfs is passing on tomorrow’s piece of energy and focussing on another behind it for Sunday. The gfs enhances the second piece of energy early Sunday, but too late to impact central MD, suggesting that the eastern shore may have snow on Sunday. The euro says the gfs should lay off the hooch as the Sunday system stays offshore. My best guess is to cover all the bases and say that central MD may see some snow tomorrow with marginal temperatures that may accumulate on grassy surfaces, and the eastern shore may see some snow on Sunday that could make for some icy spots for a few hours. How’s that for a big, ‘I have no idea.”?

All models agree that after the weekend, the northwesterly flow continues to ebb and flow bringing a mix of bone-chilling to slightly below normal temperatures. The models are also in loose agreement that the southern jet becomes more active late next week into early February. That always brings the chance of the dreaded “cold and dry followed by warm and wet, repeat,” but with so much cold, Canadian air over us or just to our north, it wouldn’t take much to luck into a more sizable snowstorm. I have my fingers crossed that things get much busier here by the end of next week.