Snow totals adding up, big storm to watch Sunday/Monday

Light to moderate snow will continue through Tuesday before tapering to flurries Wednesday. With 10-plus inches of new snow the mountain will have a powdery finish and an appealing look but the base will remain shallow and appropriate only for your pair of rock ski's you would have otherwise advertised on Craigslist for $20. We do have a weather pattern anchored by a nasty Greenland Block and negative NAO and this will allow for the continuation of below freezing temperatures and is certainly setting the stage for an early season big storm and we will get our chance on the 12th or 13th of the month.

There will be two jet stream disturbances that will move quickly eastward out of the Pacific Northwest late this week and the weekend. The first, can be described as an alberta clipper which will spread light snow across the Great Lakes and ultimately interior New England early Saturday. This first feature can be compared to trying to start your lawn mower for the first time in two weeks. It will pull hard but the mower won't start and the moisture and upper air support will be lacking and so will the snowfall. We will hardly notice its presence in the end and will instead be focused on the second feature which will dig and dig hard as it progresses into the middle of the country. The amplification with this second feature (originating from the BC coast) will be very rapid and occur very quickly. Too quick for comfort perhaps as the surface low pressure center will gather steam in the Ohio Valley and like many storms during La Nina winters, head into New York state and interior New England. It will be a track that promises to bring the threat of all types of precipitation and although we have a chance for a major snow storm, precipitation could change to a sleet/freezing rain mixture and perhaps even rain. Hopefully this system can make an important jump to the coast before tracking up toward the St Lawrence Valley. Many storms which encounter a mammoth Greenland block such as this one will make this jump and we will need it here to make this event a big success.

Colder weather and snow showers will follow for early next week and with the negative NAO dominating the field of play, below freezing temperatures and continuous chances for snowfall will continue through 17th-18th of December.