SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) – After a mild and nearly snowless start to January, Central New York’s weather is going to look more wintry for the end of the month. Here are the latest details.
I keep hearing Winter’s coming. Is that true??
We definitely see changes at the jet stream level to increase our odds for snow here in Central New York over the next week to 10 days taking us almost into February.
Starting this weekend, jet stream winds aloft orient themselves to allow areas of low pressure at the surface to strengthen and develop south of Syracuse. While there is no bitter cold air to tap into, temperatures should be cold enough to support mainly snow when a couple of these systems come close by.
What’s the timeframe to watch for??
Right now, the first chance comes late Sunday through Sunday night into Monday morning with an increasing chance of a plowable snow and, for parts of Central New York, 6 or more inches of snow. The greatest odds for the higher totals would be just east of Syracuse. Think Oneida, Madison, Otsego and Chenango counties. This would be a wet snow with the biggest impacts on the Monday morning commute.
While the above forecast map is taken from the European computer model, there is enough agreement from our other computer models to think the odds for accumulating snow Sunday night are high. Given the marginal temperatures we will caution there is still a chance that some rain mixes with snow which, of course, would have implications on snowfall totals
A second system also takes a track to our south Wednesday with another good shot at accumulating snow.
After Wednesday we would be set up for a rare stretch of below normal temperatures taking us into the last weekend of January.
Is all the activity over the next week a sign of a true change in the pattern?
The odds say that no, this is just a temporary change in the mild, snowless pattern we’ve had this winter.
While it is way too early to pin down exact details, there are strong signs that the jet stream flips back in early February to a pattern that would favor stormy and cooler weather in the West with milder than normal weather here in the Northeast.