Snowfall has been making headlines this season and will once again be the top weather story this weekend. I'm still looking at two waves of snowfall that will pass across our area. The first and weaker of the two is still scheduled to arrive this evening. This will then be succeeded by a second and more widespread snow-producer Saturday night into Sunday. Tonight's event will end around midnight leaving behind anywhere from a dusting to as much as an inch in many spots.
The second wave will be more widespread, where the heaviest of the snow is still expected to fall from northern Missouri to west-central Illinois. The snow will develop Saturday night before tapering later on Sunday. There will be a sharp change in snowfall amounts from north to south across our own area, which makes the forecast so challenging. Here's what I see now. Along the Wisconsin/Illinois border, you're looking at an inch..maybe two. Along the I80 corridor, (that includes the Quad Cities) I'm looking close to 3 inches. Along Highway 34, which includes Mt. Pleasant, Burlington, Monmouth and Galesburg you maybe shoveling around 3 to 6 inches. What a way to start off the new month. I hinted at this yesterday and I'm going to stick with my guns on this today. We all can agree that no matter the amount, snowfall is imminent.
Temperatures in the warmer 20s today will be chilled back into the teens this weekend. This is all compliments of the new snowfall arriving into the area.
Snowfall looks very sparse next week, though temperatures will remain awfully cold. Promising news by this time next week as I see numbers warm enough to melt our expected snow.
-James Z.
