Midwest Storms and Cold Air on the Way...

The mild, quiet weather pattern over most of the nation ended earlier this week.  A highly amplified pattern is now evident at 500 mb.  A relatively strong storm produced blizzard conditions in parts of the upper Midwest strong winds and up to a foot of snow yesterday.  That storm has now moved into the Great Lakes.  It is very mild in the east with temperatures in the 70s and 80s for highs in the Deep South today and tomorrow.   Temperatures will be in the 60s in New York on Sunday.   Another storm now moving across the Ohio Valley will produce showers and thunderstorms that could be severe in the Mississippi River Valley today and this evening.  The main upper-level feature has been a persistent closed low at 500 mb over Central Canada.  This will periodically bring down cold Arctic air as it rotates.  This low will rotate in such as way that it will create a ridge in the west and a broad trough in the east that will bring down cold air by Monday, January 21,2013.  This pattern will likely produce some light snow across the upper Midwest and the Northeast. 

George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, LLC. George is also a meteorologist with ABC News and Cablevision News 12. Our website is WrightWeather.com.