Latest Forecast Update from Meteorologist Rob Lindenmuth:
Light snow came to an end this morning as our storm system from Friday night continued to pull away. Most areas picked up 1-4″ with up to 6 or 7″ west of Albany in the Helderbergs and Catskills. High pressure moving in for tonight will lead to partly to mostly clear skies, there could be some patchy fog developing as temperatures fall into the low to mid 20s. High pressure will stick around through Sunday, this will bring us more sunshine and seasonable temperatures. Clouds will drift in late afternoon and evening, well ahead of our next storm system.
Monday will likely begin quiet with clouds. However, a 2 part system will begin to impact us by Monday afternoon with rain and mountain snow showers likely through Monday afternoon and evening. Likely light accumulations expected for Monday afternoon and early evening, but this will quickly change as things cool Monday night into Tuesday as any rain will switch to all snow into Tuesday morning, which could become quite heavy at times. Upper level energy in the northern tier of the country will swing into the Ohio Valley. At the same time, a storm developing along the coast will be forced northward. This will allow cold air and enough moisture to remain in place that we are looking at a significant snowfall with many likely picking up 1-2 feet.
Because of the higher confidence in these high snowfall amounts, winter storm watches have already been issued for much of eastern New York and Western New England beginning Monday afternoon and continuing through Wednesday morning.
No issues for Sunday, in fact I think we enjoy some sunshine through the first part of the day as temperatures will likely warm into the low 40s into the afternoon. Clouds will be on the increase into the evening.
Monday we will start with clouds and we do expect rain and snow showers to develop into the afternoon which would keep our temperatures slightly cooler, in the upper 30s and low 40s. It looks likely that snow will likely remain confined to areas above 1,000 feet during the afternoon on Monday.
Monday night the coastal storm will be taking over. This will bring in some colder air and change everyone over to snow. This does look to be a heavy wet snow, so will likely stick to everything relatively quickly Monday night.
Storm will continue to crank on Tuesday with periods of snow, which could be heavy at times. Wind should remain confined to areas above 1,000 feet, but there could be an occasional gust to 35 or 40 mph for those below that elevation.
When all is said and done, a swath of 1-2 feet of snow will be likely through the Capital Region, Catskills and into Western New England, southern Vermont and southern New Hampshire. We will be fine tuning the details through the weekend, where there may be shadows or even areas of enhancement, so stay tuned for a more detailed map.
Beyond this storm, things look to warm up into the mid 40s for the end of the week with showers possible on Friday, with more showers on Saturday as a cold front moves through. Saturday those showers could end as a wintry mix as the temperatures cool. Have a great weekend and be sure to check back regularly for updates regarding our significant storm for early next week! -Rob
