Monday, March 17, 2008

Sneaky Snowstorm Friday?

A moisture laden dynamic Alberta Clipper looks to be dropping through here on Friday, and we could have a little surprise snowstorm. There are two questions: Will this thing be suppressed to the south? and Will it be cold enough for snow? Well, the answer for both is kind of up in the air. But I think the clipper will be strong enough that it could creep north enough to give us moderate precipitation across Ohio. Most of the ensembles and all the operational models but the NAM (no surprise) show all of Ohio getting .4-.6" of QPF except extreme northern Ohio, but a lot of times I will watch clippers slowly get pushed south out of the area on models in the days leading up to them. And will there be enough cold air? In the north, probably cold enough for all snow. The rest of the state will see either rain or a rain snow mix as it stands now...so, when we put that all together what am I forecasting:

A clipper will provide moderate precipitation to most of Ohio, and only light precipitation to far northeast Ohio. North of a Findley-Akron-Youngstown line expect all snow and 3-6" in NW and north central Ohio with 1-4" in far northeast Ohio. Between that line and I-70 in south central Ohio expect a rain snow mix with slushy accumulations of a coating to an inch Friday evening/Night. South of I-70 expect mostly rain with no accumulations. I smell a snow map on this storm Wednesday or Thursday so stay tuned!

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