Weather Update - 4:37 PM

Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for communities to the east of I-95. We are still expecting a dusting to an inch of snow for the entire area for tonight.

Cold Air Diving Southeast

The second blast of cold Canadian air is making swift progress southeastward early Thursday morning behind the low pressure system currently tracking through the Midwest. Here is the pre-dawn surface map for the U.S.:

Wind Chills in the Plains are dangerously low this morning as high pressure from Canada continues to dive southward with gusty northerly winds:

Light snow is expected to move into Virginia after dark Thursday, first affected western parts of the state, then overspreading the rest of Central Virginia around 11 p.m. Because of limited moisture availability and the swiftness of the upper-low, only minor snowfall accumulations are expected through Friday morning. However, 1" to 3" will be possible in western parts of the state, where a Winter Weather Advisory has been issued.

Cold Plunge Continues

A new storm system is tracking through the Plains Wednesday, ushering in another cold Canadian airmass that will overtake the U.S. east of the Rockies through the end of this week.

This means much of the country that has already been in a deep freeze for about a week will still be abnormally cold at least until early next week. This is an unusually extended period for such cold weather in the Deep South and Florida, where yesterday's highs were only in the 50's in most places!

Record cold low and high temperatures have been set in Florida in recent days. Here are some of those reports:

Record Cold Highs Tuesday, January 5, 2010:

Orlando, FL 47 degrees

Melbourne, FL 50 degrees

Vero Beach, FL 52 degrees

Naples, FL 55 degrees.

New Record Lows Wednesday, January 6, 2010:

Tampa, FL 27 degrees

Melbourne, FL 27 degrees

Daytona Beach, FL 28 degrees

Vero Beach, FL 28 degrees

Orlando, FL 31 degrees

Fort Myers, FL 34 degrees

West Palm Beach, FL 34 degrees

Naples, FL 35 degrees

Miami, FL 40 degrees

In the Great Lakes region, nearly incessant Lake Effect Snow has produced high snow totals over the past week:

Upslope snow showers have also been continuous along the Appalachian Mountain chain the past week. The snowstorm now diving through the Plains today will add up to 9" of snow in the Midwest, on top of the plentiful snowcover currently in place.

Central Virginia still looks on track to get about an inch of snow Thursday night into Friday morning as a result of this approaching upper disturbance. Some locations may only get a dusting, while others may get more than an inch. Moisture still appears to be quite limited for our area while the system tracks through, but any snow that does fall will stick.