HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From all of us at CBS4 - Happy New Year! And if you haven't seen one of our newscasts in HIGH DEFINITION yet make sure you check us out soon, you'll (and we'll) be glad you did!

Stormy End to 2010

While we dealt with some pesky fog and rain over the last 48 hours it was nothing compared to the severe storms that tore through Arkansas and Missouri. An unusual weather set-up for New Year's Eve spawned dozens of tornadoes Friday, and unfortunately some of the tornadoes were deadly. Here's a map from the Storm Prediction Center showing storm reports through 8pm on Friday. Luckily we were speared from the worst of the weather on this unusually stormy December 31st.

FOGGY!

It's getting foggy out there, and it'll stay that way for the next 48 hours! With warm, moist winds out of the South our temps will be warming up over the next couple days, add to that a nice snowpack on the ground and it's a perfect recipe for "Advection Fog." This is the same type of fog you see out in San Francisco...over there it's from warm, moist air flowing over the colder ocean currents just off the coast of California. Fog forms and then blows inland...

East Snow Storm Video

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/video-on-demand-news/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5418921&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

http://video.boston.cbslocal.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5417112&at1=News&h1=Scituate


http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/dangerous-blizzard-lashes-ri-mass

Huge Snow Storm Out East!

8.6" of Snow in Davenport!

Heavy Snow Slowly Moving NE

Latest on Christmas Eve Snow Storm

Some meteorology lingo here, but I'll put it up anyways for you guys.

SATELLITE PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES..DATE/TIME 12/24/10 0753Z SATELLITE ANALYSIS BRANCH/NESDIS---NPPU---TEL.301-763-8678 LATEST DATA USED: GOES-13 0745Z  KUSSELSON . LOCATION...W WISCONSIN...NW ILLINOIS...C AND S MINNESOTA...IOWA... LOCATION...E SOUTH DAKOTA...SE NORTH DAKOTA... . ATTN WFOS...MKX...DVN...ARX...MPX...DMX...FGF...FSD...ABR... ATTN RFCS...NCRFC...MBRFC... . EVENT...VORT TANDEM FOR LIFT...GENTLE MOISTURE ADVECTION...STEADY LIGHT EXT E ND/SD AND C MN...STEADIEST AND HEAVIEST S MN INTO FAR WESTERN WI.. . SATELLITE ANALYSIS AND TRENDS...2 MAIN VORTS SEEN PROVIDING THE FORCING THAT HAS BEEN LATCHING ON TO WEAK TO MODERATE MOISTURE ADVECTION CENTERED TEXAS INTO IA/S MN.  NORTHERN VORT THAT EARLIER HAD CROSSED NORTHERN SD CONSOLIDATED WITH ANOTHER VORT THAT CAME SE ACROSS ND.  RIGHT NOW THAT CONSOLIDATED VORT IS MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL MN AND MARKS THE NORTHERN EDGE OF LIGHT SNOW. SOUTHERN VORT MOVING ACROSS NW IA AND SW MN HAD BEEN LIFTING ENE ACROSS N NEBRASKA/SE SD. THIS VORT HELPING A BIT MORE STEADIER AND HEAVIER SNOWFALL AS MOISTURE TRANSPORT A BIT BETTER AND CLOUD TOPS COOLER AND WITH EMBEDDED OVERSHOOTING CLOUD TOPS THAT CAN HELP PRODUCE BRIEF MODERATE SNOW.  THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS AREA IN MOVING ACROSS FAR SE MN INTO WI.  COOLING CLOUD TOPS FURTHER SOUTH IN SW TO S CENTRAL MO AND ASSOCIATED WITH STRONGER WARM AND MOIST ADVECTION MAY DISRUPT MOIST TRANSPORT INTO IA...SO NOT LOOKING FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SNOW EITHER N IA OR JUST TO THE NORTH IN S MN FOR THE NEXT FEW HRS. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR... 

Snow Chances

We've got a couple chances for snow coming up in the QCA. The first one arrives Sunday afternoon and any totals from that system should stay around 1 inch. However, heavier snow is possible for Monday/Monday night/early Tuesday. Here's a graphic from the NWS HPC showing snow probability of 4 inches or more for Mon 7am - Tue 7am.

Big Week Coming Up...(HD!)

We're in the middle of some very exciting times at CBS4...it's also super-busy as we get ready to launch our first HIGH-DEFINITION broadcast next week! You'll notice a different look to our weather graphics, news graphics, and most of all the overall picture quality will blow your mind! The blog has been a little slow this week as I work on the new graphics but we'll be up to full speed again next week...in the meantime we do have a few more chances for snow coming up. The first arrives Sunday, the second Monday into Tuesday and the third chance for snow next week arrives Friday! It's looking like a White Christmas here in the QC. So far this month we have picked up 8.4" of snow, that's also the average snow total for the entire month!

Snow Totals

Here's a map from the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities with snow totals from Wednesday night through Thursday...

And a link to a recap of the snow event:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=dvn&storyid=61071&source=0

Latest Snowfall Potential for Wednesday Night

More Snow Wednesday Night

2-4" of new fluffy snow could be here on Wed. Night and Thursday.

Send Us Your Holiday Light Pics!

These Pictures came from a neighborhood in Moline!

Send us yours at weather@cbs4qc.com

December 2010 Blizzard!

QC National Weather Service Public Information Statement:
PEAK WIND GUSTS SUNDAY...THROUGH 1 PM DECEMBER 12TH

STATION PEAK GUST TIME OF GUST
----------------------------------- ----------- --------------
ILLINOIS SITES
MOLINE ....................... 43 MPH 446 AM
SAVANNA ....................... 44 MPH 246 AM
STERLING ROCKFALLS ........... 44 MPH 925 AM

IOWA SITES
BURLINGTON .................... 48 MPH 456 AM
CLINTON........................ 47 MPH 615 AM
DAVENPORT ..................... 47 MPH 329 AM
FAIRFIELD .................... 45 MPH 222 AM
IOWA CITY .................... 46 MPH 429 AM
MOUNT PLEASANT ............... 44 MPH 328 AM
MUSCATINE .................... 44 MPH 348 AM
WASHINGTON ................... 45 MPH 1023 AM

Metrodome Video

If you're a sports fan you've probably heard about the Vikings/Giants game pushed to Monday, in Detroit...here's why!

A Little Further South...

The strong area of low pressure is looking to track a little further south, and closer to the Quad Cities. This could up the snow totals slightly for the QC, otherwise things look on track for the storm so far...

This path could lead to 3-5 inches of snow in the Quad Cities, with 5-9 inch totals not too far away, up around Rockford, IL. Stay tuned to CBS4 and cbs4qc.com throughout the weekend!

QC Added to Blizzard Watch

Our local office of the NWS has now issued a Blizzard Watch for the QC...the snow will not be overly heavy, but the winds will be strong Saturday night and early Sunday. Check us out on CBS4 News at 5 and 10 at Ten on CBS4 for the latest weekend forecast!

BLIZZARD!

It's looking more and more like a blizzard is about to unfold north of the QC this weekend! Portions of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota are under Blizzard Warnings, with North Central Iowa under a Blizzard Watch for Saturday. The rest of Minnesota and most of Wisconsin are under Winter Storm Watches and Warnings as they're expecting up to a foot of snow with winds of about 40-50 mph! Here in the QC we can expect a mix of rain/sleet early Saturday changing to snow Saturday evening/night. Our accumulations should be light, but we do need to be ready for strong winds and very cold weather starting Sunday!

Storm Track Pushes North

It's looking more and more like the strong area of low pressure tracking through the Midwest this weekend will be heading North of the QC. That means we will see more a rain/sleet/snow mix Saturday afternoon and then a changeover to all snow Saturday evening. Right now it looks like our snow totals will be fairly light, ranging from 1-3 inches. Up around Madison, WI they'll see 3-6" of snow, with Northern Wisconsin picking up close to a foot of snow! One thing that hasn't changed, super cold and blustery weather begins Saturday night!

This map here from the NWS HPC shows the expected path of this weekend's storm...

What a Difference!

Whether or not you have snow on the ground this time of year makes a huge difference in the daily high temperatures. The last couple days have been perfect examples...check out the high temperatures From Wednesday. Also notice the visible satellite imagery from this afternoon. Notice how much colder it is where there is snow compared to SW of the QC where there is no snow on the ground? This is a result of snow's high reflectivity, or "albedo." This sends a lot of solar radiation back out to space before it can be absorbed by the ground (and eventually heat the atmosphere.) Not only does this effect daytime highs, but it also influences how cold a place will get at night during our long winter nights!

Snow Totals

Our snow season is off to a decent start, and I bet a lot of school kids wish the snow fell on Thursday/Thursday night instead of Friday/Friday night! Officially in the QC the total was 2.5", that's taken from over near the airport in Moline. A lot of places had even more snow than that, including Davenport where the total was closer to 5 inches. The storm dropped snow as expected, with higher totals falling North/NE of the QC. The CBS4 forecast called for 4-6" NE of the QC, with a few 7 or 8 inch totals mixing in, and it turned out there were even a few 9 inch reports also, with 7" amounts being common...

Now that the snow is here, and sticking around for a while, we can expect very cold temperatures this week! This snow map is courtesy of the NWS office right here in the Quad Cities...

SNOW!

The snow has arrived, and there's a Winter Weather Adv. for the Quad Cities through Saturday afternoon. It still looks like a total of 2-4 inches for most of the QCA, with a few heavier totals NE of the QC and lighter totals SW of the QC! Take it easy on the roads through the next 24 hours, there will definitely be some slick spots tonight!

Winter Storm Watch

A Winter Storm Watch is now in effect North of the QC...it's looking like places North of the QC could see 3-6 inches of snow Friday into Saturday, while in the QC we can expect about 2-4 inches of snow! I'm putting the final touches on the forecast right now and you can see an updated snowfall forecast map on CBS4 News at 5pm and later tonight on 10 at Ten on CBS4!

Weekend Snow Update

It's still looking like we'll see our first accumulating snow of the season from Friday night into Saturday. It's possible the Quad Cities could pick up anywhere from 1 to 4 inches of snow as an area of low pressure passes just to our South. As of Wednesday night it looks like the heaviest snow should stay North of the QC...Here's model GFS model output showing about 1-3 inches in the QCA, and 3-6 inches near the Iowa/Wisconsin/Illinois border!