An intense fast moving area of low pressure tracking across Ontario and Quebec will push a strong cold front through the Northeast by Saturday evening. There is enough moisture and lift to provide from 1 to 3 inches of the north and west of New York City and across the Great Lakes to about 1 inch in the city, across Long Island and central and southern New Jersey. The temperatures will plummet again into the single digits to below zero Saturday night into early next week. Remarkably, snow, sleet and freezing rain occurred today from the coast of Texas to the Panhandle of Florida. It was 35 and cloudy at noon today in Pensacola and 33 with sleet in New Orleans. It was 44 and partly sunny today at noon in Jacksonville, FL. Wind chills will plunge down to -40 to -50 across the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes tonight and Saturday night. A large portion of the Great Lakes are frozen and as a result, the lake effect snow will be reduced. The cold air will last through a good portion of next week with another shot of cold air again early next week. Right now the weather for the Super Bowl a week from this Sunday in the Meadowlands of New Jersey appears to be wet for part of the day with some clearing at night. The GFS model is forecasting a changeover from snow, sleet and freezing rain to rain by Sunday morning with clearing by game time. Drought conditions continue in the West with the long range forecast for some cooler weather and some much needed rain late next week or the following weekend.
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.
