Our attention then turns to another strong mid level trough, digging
into the Upper Midwest Tuesday night before reaching the Ohio Valley
and eastern Great Lakes later Wednesday. A strong baroclinic wave
will develop along the frontal zone in response to increasing
forcing and flow adjustments downstream of the mid level trough,
with the resulting surface low running down the boundary from the
Ohio Valley Tuesday night to eastern NY by Wednesday afternoon.
Strong frontogenesis and differential temperature advection on the
cold side of the surface boundary will support widespread
precipitation later Tuesday night through the first half of
Wednesday over the eastern Great Lakes.
While the large scale pattern is well agreed upon, the precise
details of frontal position and low track will be critical in terms
of the surface temperatures, thermal profiles, and snow potential.
Model guidance has shown a good deal of run to run changes on these
details, not atypical for an event still 3 days out. A swath of
accumulating snow will almost certainly occur to the northwest of
the low track, but model guidance has varied on placement of this
from over western and north central NY to north of Lake Ontario
mainly on the Canadian side of the border. There may be a narrow
ribbon of sleet and freezing rain as well in the transition zone
between rain and snow.
For this cycle, trended the forecast quite a bit colder for later
Tuesday night and Wednesday with a rain/snow mix through that time
frame, especially in areas close to the Canadian border. The current
forecast represents a solution a little farther north and warmer
than the 12Z GFS/ECMWF/GEM to blend in some previous, farther north
model runs. It should also be noted that past history shows this
type of system has a propensity to track farther north and west than
model guidance would suggest several days out. The range of
potential outcomes runs from very little snow at all to
accumulating, impactful snow for late Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Stay Tuned.
Wednesday night cold air will pour into the eastern Great Lakes
behind this system, with wrap around scattered snow showers
areawide. The airmass will grow cold enough for lake effect snow
showers southeast of Lakes Erie and Ontario later Wednesday night.