A Chilly Tuesday Morning

Wind Chill temperatures from just before 7 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Temperatures dropped into the mid to upper teens this morning with clear skies.  The wind out of the south was not as strong as Monday, but at 5-10 mph it still chilled the air.  Wind chills, as you see above, were into the low teens and single digits, making for quite a cold start to the day.  Temperatures are expected to rise into the upper 40s by the end of the week with plenty of sunshine.  So even though the cold weather is here today, mild conditions are just around the corner. 

Snowless Streak Continues...

Snow was close this weekend but it officially missed the Quad Cities!  This brings the NO MEASURABLE SNOW streak to 281 days which ties the 2nd longest streak ever!  If we don't see any snow by the middle of next week (a good possibility we won't) we'll break the record set back in 1908! 

For more on streaks like this check out the local office of the NWS!  Click Here for Some Stats

Severe Storms in the South....

While our neighbors to the north in Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc. were under winter weather advisories and warnings, our friends in the south were under severe thunderstorm watches on Sunday. 

In northeastern Arkansas there were even two reports of tornadoes.  Near Salem, Arkansas there were reports of golf ball size hail!

All the wintry weather and severe weather were associated with the same system that moved through the QCA early Sunday and produced some rain/snow. 

Winter Storm...

Our neighbors to the north are bracing for a snow storm!  Several counties in Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, and back into Montana & Wyoming are under a Winter Storm Warning, Blizzard Warning, or Winter Weather Advisories.  Some areas could pick up 5-9 inches of snow and with strong winds it could create whiteout conditions so Blizzard warnings have been issued.

2 Snow Chances this Weekend, Snow for the Packers' Game?

Now we're looking at not 1, but 2 chances of snow this weekend.  If you want a big snowstorm though don't get your hopes up!  As it gets a little colder late Friday night our light rain will change to a mixture of light rain and snow before winding down very early on Saturday.  Most of Saturday looks dry, but another chance for rain and snow arrives after midnight Sat. night.  Again though, accumulations will be very minor (if anything at all.)

Here are a few model plots of snow totals, notice the slight accumulation Friday night then again early Sunday!

 Totals will be much heavier north of the QC, including Green Bay, WI, where the Packers play Sunday night!

Winter Weather Advisories, Winter storm Watches and Warnings are in effect for places north of the Quad Cities...

Next Week's Snow Chances

Here's a quick blurb on why we're not quite yet committed to the snow forecast for early next week yet, in addition to the fact that it's still 4-5 days away and predicting snow amounts this far out is not a good idea anyway! 

This is a plot of a few models' snowfall predictions for Sunday/Monday, notice the range is from one inch to 7 inches!  These are sure to change in the days to come and once more models converge on a solution we'll be showing accumulation maps...until then just keep checking back with CBS4!

Will We Have a White Christmas this Year?

With Christmas now less than 3 weeks away people are starting to wonder if we'll see a White Christmas in the Quad Cities!  The answer is.....yet to be determined.  We do have a couple chances for snow coming in the next several days, and we could see some accumulating snow Sunday night/early Monday!  An area of low pressure will be taking a track SE of the QC, which is favorable for snow here in Iowa/Illinois.  This will be one of those storms which the exact path will determine who sees the snow, who sees the rain and who sees a mix.  We'll keep you posted on this as one of main forecast points for the next few days.

In the meantime, here's a link to some nice data compiled by our local office of the NWS on the chance of seeing a white Christmas in the QC historically.

Out of the last 10 years in the QC 4 have had at least 1 inch of snow on the ground for Christmas, with 2 others having a trace of snow on the ground!  That's pretty close to the historic 41.4% chance of us seeing a White Christmas in the Quad Cities!

More on Monday's Record Highs

We are still on track for a chance of accumulating snow early next week, we'll have much more on that in the days to come...tonight though, a quick look back at Monday's high temperatures.  Many of the numbers you see on this map either tied or broke record for December 3rd, including the QC high of 69°...a tie for the day's record high!

Snow Next Week?

After a record tying day on Monday (Record high of 69°) a week from now things will be much different!  Temperatures retreat slowly over the next couple days and then early next week a big pattern change looks likely.  This will bring much colder weather into the Quad cities by the middle of December, and we could see some accumulating snow late Sunday and Monday.  It's a little too early to say with certainty but this storm is definitely worth watching over the next few days.  Here's a surface forecast map for next Monday, note the area of low pressure East of the QC...that's a path that often produces snow here in the winter!

Temperatures Take a Dive.......Eventually

Temperatures have been well above average and they're going to stay that way at least for the first half of the upcoming week!   The warmest day looks to be Monday.  Right now, we're forecasting a high temperature of 68°, our record high temp is 69°.  A cold front Monday night will cause temps to dip at least a little bit by Tuesday.  That's when we'll be back in the mid 50s.  The 30s don't return until next weekend!