Parts of the Midwest will see one more heavy snowfall before a warming trend moves in the for the end of the week. This latest storm system is the last in a series that will have come in from the Pacific. The difference is that this system will come onshore over the Pacific northwest and then track southeast through the Midwest before becoming a major storm along the mid Atlantic seaboard mid week. The two previous intense systems dove down along the west coast, moved across the desert southwest, and then proceeded either north through the Plains or northeast through the Midwest.
For the Chicago metro area this means back to clouds Monday and light snow by Monday night. Today's bright sunshine and warming temperatures will be the last for a couple of days. The main upper level energy will intensify as it dives from over Montana Monday morning to southern Illinois by Tuesday evening. The graphic shows the GFS model forecast valid Tuesday evening. The left panel is the upper level low pressure at 500mb and the right panel the surface low pressure.
An early look at the storm for the metro area is for occasional light snow Monday night. Heaviest snow will fall during Tuesday as the system dives to the southwest and then south of the area. The snow will taper off Tuesday evening, but the winds will be increasing. The GFS model lays down the heaviest snow in a band from North Dakota through northeast Iowa, northern Illinois into central Indiana before blasting the mid Atlantic area Wednesday.
The good news is that this is the last storm for a while. Conditions will clear during Wednesday with high pressure Thursday and Friday. Highs will be at least the upper 30s for Thursday and into the 40s Friday through Sunday as the upper level flow becomes more southwest. The normal high is now up to 41 and rising. Hopefully this will be the last use of the snow blower for this winter season.
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