No major changes this morning, as we gear up for our next batch of inclement weather. Unfortunately, that batch of weather will be moving in starting tonight – that means clouds build through the day today. This event still looks to come in 3 pieces from tonight through Monday mid afternoon

Piece number one is in overnight tonight. WE see rains developing statewide to the tune of a few hundredth to as much as 4 tenths, although the .3”-.4” rain totals will be fairly isolated and only in small areas. Rains will cover about 80% of the state overnight, and will be pushing quickly off to the east after sunrise tomorrow morning. We still can’t rule out some sloppy wet snow flakes mixing in over the norther tier counties, definitely no farther south than US 30.

The second part of this event is for Christmas day, although at this point it is not nearly as impressive and will be the weakest wave of the three. Scattered, light shower action will work through, particularly from midday on through the evening hours. By midnight, action will be gone. Rain totals will be a few hundredths to at most a quarter of an inch, and coverage still looks to be only about 60% at best…and potentially a lot less. Still, it will turn out to be a pretty gray and somewhat damp Christmas Day over a large part of the state.

The cold front finally moves through for Monday. From sunrise into early afternoon we see moderate rains move through. WE like rain totals of .25”-.5” for the most part, but will allow for a few isolated higher amounts. Coverage of rains for Monday will be 100% of the state as the front sweeps through from west to east. This will bring rain totals for the complete cumulative event to half to 1 inch with coverage at 100% of the state. The map above shows rain totals from tonight through Monday late afternoon.
Following that front we get much colder for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. WE should be dry Tuesday, but can see a little bit of moisture work in for later Wednesday into Thursday. Rain totals can be from a quarter to half an inch maximum. Models still have a good bit of disagreement on this system, and it is one we will really hone in on early next week. For now, expect more precipitation potential and cold air is in play, so we can see some snow potential over the northern part of the state, even if it does look minor at this point.

Scattered light snow showers return on Friday, and then there is potential for a stronger low circulation moving in for the New Year’s Day holiday. This is a new wrinkle but can bring moisture totals that may have a liquid equivalent of up to half an inch, as we start off 2017. We are keeping door open to both rain and snow possibilities at this point.

So, keep the umbrella handy this holiday weekend, it will be damp across most of the state, but that means temps are normal to above through the entire period, with cold air holding off until after Boxing day.

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