Snow Showers

A batch of snow showers is moving thru the Quad Cities this evening...while the snow will come down at a good clip for a little while no accumulations over half an inch are expected. Part of the reason for that is the winds that are still howling out there...they'll blow most of the snow around quite a bit, preventing it from accumulating! Things quiet down later tonight...

Wind Update

Yes, it's still very windy in the Quad Cities and it will stay that way for a few more hours. The Advisory is in effect until 6pm as winds should start to diminish after the sun sets at 5:52 pm!

A Bit Windy Today

Its quite a windy day today with a wind advisory in effect until 6 PM tonight. Wind speeds (as shown above), are 20-30 mph and there have been 40 mph wind gusts reported. The winds arrive as a low pressure system slowly moves out of the area. This system gave us the rain showers last night. As well as blizzard conditions in upper Midwest and severe weather in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. As the system heads East the winds will slow, the temps will rise again and the sun will be shining for Thursday in the QCA.

Satellite Image from the ISS

This is a cool image of the Mid-Atlantic coast of the US, taken from the International Space Station. Some large cities can be seen, moving from left to right, Norfolk,VA, Richmond, VA, Washington DC, Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, MD and New York, NY. Also notable is the Delmarva Peninsula, which contains the first state to ratify the constitution, Delaware!

A Windy Wednesday

After some showers and t-storms roll through Tuesday night get ready for some strong winds on Wednesday! Gusts could approach 50 mph Wednesday afternoon! A WIND ADVISORY is in effect for the Quad Cities.

Blizzard Heading for Upper Midwest - Leap Day Blizzard

We like to name storms right...How about Leap Day Blizzard? After a winter that hasn't dropped a lot of snow on a lot of folks through the upper Midwest things are about to change! People from the Dakotas through Wisconsin are looking at a huge late winter storm Tuesday through Wednesday! Some places will see more than a foot of snow, with winds gusting to around 40 mph! Whiteout conditions are likely for thousands of folks so travel will be nearly impossible for a good portion of the middle of the week!

Severe Weather Stats

Above are some top tens locations for some severe weather. This is averaged data from the mid 1950s until 2004. As it is noted, Iowa has the 4th highest amount of Tornadoes per 10,000 square miles and Illinois comes in with a close 5th. So with the average of these, the QC is (on average) at a higher risk of getting tornadoes than 90% of the other states in the US. Though, as a surprise, the Top 10 Thunderstorm Cities doesn't include any cities from the Mid-West.

Florida has 8 out of the top 10 cities. This is mainly due to the continuous daily thunderstorms each afternoon during the summer. Hot air evaporates over the warm gulf waters and as it passes over the land, the storm releases its energy by raining and if it has enough energy (hot air) it will arrive as a thunderstorm. Hence making Florida the thunderstorm capital of the US. (The state of Florida also has one of the highest, if not the highest, amount of lightning strikes in North America)

Taking A Look Back...Yet Again

Well, we finally got some more snow this past week, but most of it melted today under the sun. But, nothing compares to how much snow was on the ground a year ago in the Quad Cities and around the U.S. This year's snow depth as of Sunday is above and last year's snowfall on this day is below.

What A Difference A Day Makes...

The map above shows you Saturday's high temps when most neighborhoods struggled to reach 30°. A day later, temps have climbed well into the 50s for most areas. That means temperatures are about 20-30° warmer today compared to yesterday at this time!







A weak cold front will usher in some cooler air for your Monday, but the sunshine sticks around as you begin the week. A stronger system will provide the Quad Cities with a chance of rain and snow for Tuesday and Wednesday. Keep checking back for more updates!

March Climate Outlook...

March is going to be another month of above normal temperatures. At least that's what the Climate Prediction Center is thinking right now.

In addition to the warmer than normal temps, the CPC is also forecasting precipitation to be above normal. So the warmer trend looks like it may continue yet again!

Snow Totals

Honestly, when the change to snow took so long on Thursday I got a little worried about the forecast verifying, but we ended up OK by Friday morning with about 3 inches falling in the QC and higher totals just off to the North! The forecast did change slightly from Wednesday to Thursday but overall it worked out like we expected it would in the CBS4 Weather Center!

Thursday night's forecast is on the far left, while the original forecast from Wednesday is on the right.



Here is what we ended up with, this map comes from the NWS in Davenport.

And these are totals for specific cities in Illinois and Iowa! Click on the images to enlarge!

Pics from Thursday Night's Snow

Here are some pics from Kierstin D in Mt. Carroll, IL...

Rain Changing to Snow Now

The transition has finally made its way into the QC now...with snow being reported in Davenport. The changeover should be complete in the next hour or so and the Winter Weather Adv continues. We're still on track for 2-4" overnight, with the higher amounts on the northern side of the QC!

Quad Cities' Snow Update

Here's a full update on what's happening around the area...broken down into a few categories!

A. Right now - The changeover is taking a while in the Quad Cities but it is snowing just North of the metro area. This transition will take a little longer in the metro area, but by later this evening we are looking at all snow falling in the Quad Cities.

B. How Much - This is still a tough call, with model output ranging from 1 - 7 inches of snow or so! Right now it looks like the Quad Cities will see about 2-4 inches, with heavier totals falling just North of the metro area where it's already snowing (see section A!)



C. How long - Snow will be heavy at times tonight and should finally wind down early Friday morning across most of the area. Our Winter Weather Advisory is in effect until 6am Friday!

Rain Changing to Snow

The rain is finally starting to transition to snow in parts of the QCA. That's why the radar looks so messy, it's having a difficult time pinpointing where it's raining and where it's snowing! Here are are a few reports from the local NWS:

IEMBot DVN ‏ @iembot_dvn
#DVN Sse Tipton [Cedar Co, IA] trained spotter reports SNOW of M0.5 INCH at 02:01 PM CST

Sse Cedar Rapids [Linn Co, IA] trained spotter reports HEAVY SNOW

Uh-Oh! Snow

This evening's model runs are now coming in and taking the storm further south, meaning the heavy snow could fall right in the Quad Cities! Fresh NAM data includes the possibility of up to 10 inches of snow falling in the Quad Cities. My final forecast is not likely to be quite that high, but it will be going up from the last forecast we had at 6pm. Details on Ten at 10 on CBS4

I'm still waiting on the new GFS numbers to come in, we'll try to update the blog with that again later tonight!

Snow Update

Here's the map for Thursday's snow...after looking through chart after chart after map after map it looks like the heaviest snow will be NORTH OF THE QUAD CITIES! There could be a few isolated amounts of 6-8 inches, with 3-6 inches common north of the QC! In the metro area we're on the dividing line between 1-3" and 3-6". So a safe forecast for the QC is 2-4" of wet snow by Thursday night!

WINTER STORM WATCH

Thursday's storm now looks like it will be a little stronger than earlier expected...and a slight shift south has parts of our area under the gun for a heavy, wet snow! Right now the models are falling into 2 camps, one with a storm track through the Quad Cities, which would place the heavy snow North of the QC. (This includes the GFS model, below)


The other solution (including the UKMET, below) takes the storm south of the QC, which would mean several inches of snow in the metro area! I'll be working on this all afternoon and a forecast update comes your way on CBS4 News at 5 and 6, check it out!

Nice Sunset Pictures

Galesburg, Illinois on February 21, 2012 - Thanks to Jay R for sharing!

Tuesday Weather Update

Last night's snow is just a memory now, as temps in the 40s have melted it all away in the Quad Cities! It looks like our next chance for precip falls late Wednesday as a chance for light rain rolls through the area...in the meantime here are the numbers as of 3pm on Tuesday!

Thundersnow!

It doesn't happen often here, or anywhere, but we have had reports of thundersnow in the Quad Cities tonight! Here's a shot from Chris Gilson at about 10:30 in Rock Island!

Updated Snow Forecast

After checking out some new model data tonight and scoping out the radar here's an update to the snow forecast for the Quad Cities (see below) Things are still looking very light, with an inch of snow or more falling only in areas NORTH of the Quad Cities!

Chance for Snow Tonight

While it's not a blockbuster winter storm by any stretch of the imagination we could see some light snow tonight in the Quad Cities! Things will start off as a mixture of rain and snow and continue through the night. With a warm ground and temps in the 30s the accumulations will stay very light, with up to an inch possible in the metro area and closer to 2 inches possible North of the Quad Cities. Here are a few things to look at, including some model output (top of post) that is suggesting closer to 2 inches in the Quad Cities, but to me it still looks closer to an inch!

Severe Weather Yesterday, Snow Today!

We told you yesterday about the low pressure system that produced some tornadoes, strong winds, and hail along the Gulf Coast (storm reports, shown above).

Well, that same low pressure system is now affecting areas in the Mid-Atlantic, but this time it's snow not severe storms!

The areas shaded in pink are under a Winter Storm Warning and the areas in yellow are under a Winter Weather Advisory. Counties under a Winter Storm Warning are picking up 3-6 inches of snow with blowing snow too. While areas under the Advisory are getting between 1-4 inches of snow!

So enjoy the nice weather in the Quad Cities while it lasts, that's at least for one more afternoon!

Severe Weather in the Southern U.S....

UPDATE 8pm Saturday Evening...



In the previous post (below), I told you about all the severe weather taking place along the Gulf Coast this weekend.

Since the last post, there have been two additional tornado reports, which brings the total to two in Southern Louisiana and one in Southwest Alabama. There have also been more wind damage reports. So it's been a rough day down South!

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While the weather is quiet and pleasant in the Quad Cities this weekend, that's not the case for areas along the Gulf Coast.

That's because a strong low pressure system is moving along the coast this weekend and it's caused the Storm Predicition Center to issue some Tornado Watches for Southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Florida.

As of 4pm, there have been several reports of wind damage and, fortunately, only one tornado has been reported. The tornado was reported at 9:30 am Saturday morning near Rayne, Louisiana. Most areas are under a tornado watch until later this evening.