Chilly Dry Thursday Christmas Remains A Question

SHOP THE JOESTRADAMUS STORE

We are seeing dry air continue to penetrate our area as some high clouds from a southern system moves offshore. Other than that we have no weather issues overnight as skies clear and temperatures drop down into the 20s. To the northwest we can see clouds in the Western Great Lakes back to the Northern Plains and that area is seeing snow on the order of 4 to 8 inches on average. The leading edge of bitter cold air lies to the north in Canada and it is getting ready to drop southward.

SATELLITE LOOP

REGIONAL RADAR

There are no weather issues on the radars tonight or Thursday as the rain in the Carolinas moves to the east. Thursday looks nice and sunny with highs just in the 30s to near 40. Then milder air begins to arrive Friday which will produce a lot of clouds. Some spotty light rain could develop and in cold spots north and west of the coast there could be a little freezing rain or sleet if the precipitation develops early in the day. Right now it doesn’t appear to be enough to cause any major issues. Temperatures will eventually rise into the 40s with highs for the day being reached Friday night by midnight.

NAM MODEL SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY CLICK TO ANIMATE

We will see some rain on Saturday with temperatures in the upper 40s to mid 50s for highs as a front approaches and a wave develops on the front. Once the front passes to the east the big question will be does the front stall just offshore or does it move further east before stalling. Resolving this question is critical for the forecast for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. Weather models are split between overwhelming our area with cold dry air for Sunday and Monday or developing a storm on the front and bringing rain and/or snow Sunday night into Monday Christmas morning.