It’s a cold morning across the region with temperatures in the single numbers below zero and a wind chill warning for the mountains.  Along the coast, wind chills will be lowest before 10AM.  You can expect it to feel below zero all day as actual temperatures reach the mid-teens in Portland, but struggle into positive territory on the ski lifts.  

The cold continues overnight with similar temperatures as the night just past and a slight breeze.  At cold levels like this, only a 5 or 10 mile per hour breeze can bring temperatures well below zero quickly.  I expect lows to fall below zero statewide with the exception being the towns along the Coast of York County which bottom out at 1 or 2 degrees above zero Friday morning.

Friday is still cold with highs only 10 to 15 at the coast and the single numbers in the foothills and mountains. 

On Saturday the winds will flip direction and come more from the south.  This will bring milder air to the area for a few hours.  Highs will reach the 20s to near the melting point just south of Portland. It will feel like spring after this cold shot!   Don’t get use to the milder conditions because they aren’t going to last long. 

A front will cross the area during the afternoon and bring a bit of snow.  While this won’t be a big system, roads could become slippery as the snow accumulates a coating to 1 or 2 inches.  Below is the forecast radar for midday Saturday showing scattered areas of light snow or snow showers throughout the region.  I’ll have more on this light snow tomorrow and Saturday. 

The snow ends early Saturday evening before it becomes colder again on Sunday.  A quick burst of snow may occur Monday morning.  As this system exits the region even colder air will move in for next week.  If you regularly read this blog you have seen the image below before.  This is an image which is based on one computer model forecast, but gives a great idea of the upcoming trends in the atmosphere.

You can follow updates to my forecast on Twitter @growingwisdom.

You can see the two brief breaks in the cold Saturday and Monday and then the return to cold next week.  The bar graphs show upcoming precipitation.  The numbers on the right indicate how much precipitation will fall.  Those numbers are for water content. You need to multiply it by 10 to get a rough ideal how much snow could fall.   

Super Bowl Sunday

I thought it would be interesting to track the forecast for Super Bowl Sunday, February 2^nd.  We can see together how the forecast will change over the next 10 days.  I will keep updating the forecast at the conclusion of the blog until Sunday.  Right now, the forecast looks dry and sunny with highs in the 20s to near 30 and light winds.  That wouldn’t be too tough to take.  Now we just have to see how the models change in the upcoming days and if that impacts the forecast.

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