Travel Weather From Now Through Christmas Eve

By -
Now
Via Rob McClure and Twitter, these are the conditions at Berthoud Pass, Colorado. It is 11° and visibility is occasionally zero.

These are the current NWS watches and warnings as of 2:43pm CST.
Orange = blizzard warning. Bright blue = avalanche warning. Browns = high wind watches/warnings. Pink = winter storm warnings. Blues = winter weather advisories (a lesser condition than a winter storm warning). More may be issued in northern Plains and/or Upper Midwest later this afternoon. Please check AccuWeather for specific local forecasts!

December 23rd

 As of 9am tomorrow morning (23rd) some light to moderate new snow will fall from the northern Plains into Wisconsin.

And, here is the forecast snow accumulation for 9pm tomorrow evening. There is quite a bit of light snow accumulation, especially from east of I-29 in northern Iowa to near Green Bay, WI.

There is also a tornado and severe thunderstorm risk (primarily from damaging thunderstorm winds) in the yellow area tomorrow and tomorrow night. Thunderstorms may get close enough to the airline hub in Atlanta to cause some delays.


Christmas Eve

Here is the forecast weather map for 1pm EST on the 24th. Where the solid black lines (isobars, lines of equal barometric pressure) are close together it will be windy with gusts above 30 mph.
It will be very windy at ground level around the low and there will be quite a bit of turbulence aloft, as well. You may want to consider not eating a big meal shortly before takeoff. The turbulence will be increased near or northeast of any thunderstorms. Those thunderstorms will also cause localized delays.

With regard to snow accumulation, the low is going to bring enough cold air south to have to worry about heavy snow in a narrow band.

This is the forecast snow accumulation at 6am CST on Christmas Eve.

Things change quite a bit by 10pm.
A band of 2-6 inches falls from southeast Missouri to southern Lake Michigan and 2 to 10 inches in Lower Michigan. And, with the forecast gusty winds, there will be drifting snow.

Of course, this band may have to be adjusted a bit to the east or west. So, if you are planning to travel in this area Wednesday, earlier is better and moving your trip up a day would be best still.

I will update this forecast tomorrow morning.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hilary's Forecast Path Shifts West; Updated 9:20am PDT

By -
Image
The forecast path of the center of Hilary has shifted a bit to the west. This increases the threat to the Southland, especially in terms of flooding.  Rainfall Note the heavy rains are forecast for Los Angeles County. Serious flash flooding may result. Because the forecast path has shifted to the west, that increases the threat of serious flooding in Los Angeles County north into Yosemite and the southern Sierra. It lessens the threat in Utah and western Arizona. While the threat of widespread flooding in Utah and Arizona lessens, note that some thunderstorms with localized heavy rain show up on the map.  In Nevada, the more western path increases the risk of serious flooding around Mt Charleston and into the central part of the state.  Here is the updated  (9am PDT) flash flood risk map. Wind There are already about 40,000 people without power in California, mostly in the center of the state.  The maps above are the peak gusts forecasted with the storm. The highest winds, in general,
Read more

Dangerous Travel Conditions - People Reportedly Stranded

By -
Image
-- Note, more current info available. Scroll up. --- Updated Information as of 8am PDT You are risking your life if you attempt to travel through the purple area.  While the rain has not begun in coastal California, I would urge you to use this time to make any preparations. Power outages have occurred already in southeast California. Here is the latest radar as of 7:55am PDT. As of 6:40am PDT , the radar indicates moderate to heavy rain falling over desert areas of Southern California and far western Arizona (click to enlarge).  Rainfall amounts for the 24 hours ending at 7am PDT show more than two inches have already fallen. There are reports from reliable sources that roads are already washed out and that people are stranded in isolated parts of the desert.  Below is a high-resolution computer model's rainfall forecast from 5am PDT to 11pm PDT Sunday. More than a foot of additional rain is forecast to fall. This will lead to catastrophic flooding.  Here is a map of current watc
Read more

Update on Tornado and Wind Potential; 12 Noon PDT

By -
Image
There was at least one tornado and at least one funnel cloud yesterday.  --- original forecast --- Hilary (the swirly symbol) continues to move NNW paralleling the coast of Baja California, Mexico. The area outlined in red has a significant risk of tornadoe s the rest of the afternoon.  Below is a list of peak wind gusts so far.  Peak winds may increase farther north as the afternoon progresses.  Addition at 12 noon PDT: Sure enough, winds have increased.  Note: If you are in the San Diego area, I recommend not  traveling east on I-8. Heavy rains may cause flash flooding that will involve the highway. 
Read more