Winter Blinder? Stubborn Cold Continues & Much Needed Precipitation in the West

Cold Pushes Snow South
Thanks to the recent cold air invasion across the Upper Mississppi Valley, we’ve seen the storm track settle south just a bit. This unfortunately has been bringing round after round of wintry weather to the middle and eastern part of the country. We’ve actually seen 3 different winter storm since late last week and 2 separate systems since Super Bowl Sunday. Here’s the snowfall analysis over the past 72 hours. The last one on Tuesday/Wednesday was a doozy. There were several reports of 6″ to 12″ from the Central Plains to the Northeast. There were even a few reports exceeding a foot!

No Grilling Zone
Thanks to my good friend Matt Dux for this image near Kansas City, MO after nearly 10″ fell! It laments that it’s going to be a little hard to get to the grill.

Snowy in New York
Here was the scene from midday Wednesday as my good friend and colleague Addison Green drove up to the La Guardia Airport. His flight was originally delayed several hours due to the storm on Wednesday and eventually canceled. Addison was one of several thousand people that had traveling issues at some of the major hubs on Tuesday & Wednesday.

The photo below is Forest Hill, MD courtesy Kelly Heil via Meteorologist Justin Berk.

Ice Accumulations
Thanks to the National Weather Service Eastern Region for the image below, which suggests the ice accumulations from our latest storms system for folks in the Northeast. According to the map below, there were several locations that had 0.25″ to nearly 0.50″ of ice! One report out of Marion, KY boasted 0.75″! Keep in mind that just 0.50″ of ice can add up to 500lbs. of extra weight to a span of power lines (pole to pole). No surprise power outages are a big concern during ice storms!

Significant Ice in Louisville, KY
Thanks to Drew Cooks via CN2 for this image out of Louisville, KY.

Brambleton, MD
Here’s another icy shot from my good friend Amy Bettwy out of Brambleton, MD

Ice Storm Damage
Unfortunately, the ice was a common scene for the recent ice storm on the southern edge of the heavy snow swath. At one point on Wednesday, there were more than 1 million customers without power across the nation from the snow and ice.

Here were some of the reports from AM Wednesday:

Pennsylvania: 701,215
Maryland: 135,567
Arkansas: 49,506
Kentucky: 43,889
New Jersey: 28,098
West Virginia: 23,633
Tennessee: 11,005
Ohio: 12,798
New York: 4,540

Colder Behind the Storm
Take a look at the 24 hour temperature change from yesterday afternoon across the country. Note the significant drops across the southern part of the country.

Widespread Wind Chill Concerns
WOW! Take a look at how widespread the wind chill concerns will be through midday Thursday. Withing these areas, we could see feels like temps from -10F to -35F!

Cold Thursday Ahead
Brrr… Here’s the chilly outlook for the nation on Thursday.

Highs From Normal Thursday
Much of the nation will below average with the exception of the far southern tip of Florida. However, a large chunk of the nation with be significantly below average.

6 to 10 Day Temperature Outlook
According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, there’s still a good chance that the eastern half of the nation will see below average temperatures, while the southwestern part of the country could see warming temperatures. Also note Alaska could see a temperature drop by mid February.

Goodbye Storm – Hello Next Storm
As we say goodbye to one storm, our attention shift once again to the west. It appears the western part of the country will stay quite active through the upcoming weekend.

Much Needed Precipitation
Well this is good timing! Just after parts of California were added to the highest drought classification for the state in recorded history, well timed moisture has moved in. Even though we’re seeing moisture, we are still well behind normal and need several more of these systems before we can even think about peering out of the woods. According to NOAA’s HPC 5 day precipitation forecast, some areas across northern California could see 5″ to 7″ of precipitation by Monday evening.

Western Warnings
The National Weather Service has issued several winter weather headlines for the incoming storm(s). Here are some of the latest headlines.

…BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 AM PST
FRIDAY FOR THE WESTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 AM PST
FRIDAY. THIS REPLACES THE WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SNOW AND BLOWING
SNOW…WHICH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* TIMING…BEGINNING MIDDAY THURSDAY…PEAK INTENSITY IN THE
EVENING…AND TAPERING TO SNOW SHOWERS FRIDAY MORNING.

* ACCUMULATION…3 TO 6 INCHES.

* WIND…EAST WINDS 35 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 75 MPH.

* VISIBILITY…DETERIORATING TO NEAR ZERO AS SNOW INCREASES
THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW
WILL ALSO LEAD TO DANGEROUSLY LOW VISIBILITY.

* LOCATIONS INCLUDE…MULTNOMAH FALLS…CASCADE LOCKS…CORBETT.

* IMPACTS…A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO MAKE TRAVEL NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE AT TIMES IN THE GORGE
THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS…MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL…HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED…STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

…WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 AM PST
FRIDAY FOR THE GREATER PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER METRO AREA…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW…WHICH IS IN
EFFECT FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 AM PST FRIDAY. THIS REPLACES THE
WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW…WHICH IS NO LONGER
IN EFFECT.

* TIMING…BEGINNING MIDDAY THURSDAY…PEAK INTENSITY IN THE
EVENING…AND TAPERING TO SNOW SHOWERS FRIDAY MORNING.

* ACCUMULATION…2 TO 6 INCHES. BEST CHANCE FOR HIGHER END
ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE SOUTH AND WEST OF PORTLAND.

* WIND…EAST WINDS GENERALLY 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH.
NEAR THE GORGE EAST WINDS WILL BE STRONGER…25 TO 35 MPH WITH
GUSTS TO 50 MPH…LIKELY LEADING TO OCCASIONAL BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS NEAR TROUTDALE.

* LOCATIONS INCLUDE…PORTLAND…VANCOUVER…TROUTDALE…
BEAVERTON…HILLSBORO…BATTLE GROUND…CAMAS…AND THE
REMAINDER OF THE GREATER PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER METRO AREA.

* IMPACTS…A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL MAKE
TRAVEL VERY DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND
DURING THE THURSDAY EVENING COMMUTE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF
SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN
AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT…
FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

What About That Weekend Storm in the Northeast?
It’s still something to watch as weather models have been fluctuating a bit, but we may be seeing a slight shift east in the storm track, which would mean that the storm would be as intense… stay tuned!

Surfer Tackles World Record Wave?
This is crazy! It’s hard to grasp how BIG this wave REALLY is, but estimates have this thing around 80ft. and could certainly be worthy of a world record!

“Andrew Cotton, a 34-year-old surfer from England, took on one of the biggest waves of all time on Sunday despite harsh weather conditions in Portugal. When the crest of the 80-foot wave caught up with him, he tumbled, disappearing beneath the water’s surface for a brief moment.
Cotton told the BBC his fall was “pretty bad” and described the windy conditions as “bordering on unsurfable.” He was wearing an inflatable vest which shot him up to the surface of the water.”

See the full story & VIDEO from mashable.com HERE:

Thanks for checking in and have a great rest of your week!
Twitter: @TNelsonWNTV