January 26, 2025 - American Public News

ITHACA, N.Y. — On the one hand, temperatures will be fairly seasonable over the next week. On the other hand, there will be several storm systems, either weak or delivering glancing blows, that will make for an unsettled week ahead. A system that will impact the Ithaca area next weekend bears monitoring for the risk of widespread icy conditions and travel impacts, but at least for the next several days no major weather-related disruptions are anticipated. Graphic courtesy of NWS Albany.Your Weekly WeatherAt present, there’s a weak frontal trough passing to the north, with partly to mostly cloudy skies and some light snow showers across the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier. The lake effect snow machine is fired up, but the westerly wind fetch means that the band is staying well to the north of Tompkins County. Over the next few days, snowfall amounts locally will be light, 1-3″ by Wednesday morning. Further up north towards Watertown, it’s 2-2.5 feet. For your Sunday, expect a few light snow showers this morning, ending as the trough moves away to the northeast. Highs will be seasonable, in the mid 30s, with partly cloudy skies and a stiff west breeze and wind gusts up to 30 MPH. The winds will settle tonight, with a few passing clouds and lows in the mid teens.A powerful storm will pass well to the north Monday, and the primary concern becomes the very tight pressure gradient it creates rather than the precip. That tight gradient will drive a stiff and potentially damaging wind across WNY and NNY late Monday night, and a few isolated power outages and downed tree limbs may occur in Tompkins County. Monday will see increasing clouds but staying dry with highs in the mid to upper 30s and a stiff WSW wind reaching 35 MPH at times. Monday night will become overcast with a few light snow showers towards morning. Wind gusts on the hills surrounding Ithaca may reach 45 MPH as the wind turns from WSW to WNW as the core of the counterclockwise-circulating low passes our longitude. Lows will be in the mid 20s.The low will be over Atlantic Canada Tuesday, and the strong northwest wind will keep temperatures cold. Some light snow showers are likely earlier in the day, with mostly cloudy skies highs only in the upper 20s, declining into the low 20s by sunset. Winds will only gradually settle down over the course of the day. Tuesday night will see mostly cloudy skies with a few snow showers and lows in the upper teens.A weaker clipper low will scoot southeastward from the Western Great Lakes and across Upstate Wednesday, and the impulse of energy will also help shunt the Atlantic low east and away from us. Expect a mostly cloudy day with a mix of light rain and snow showers and highs in the upper 30s. Wednesday night will host mostly cloudy skies and a few lake-enhanced snow showers, and while lows will be in the mid teens, a northwest breeze behind the clipper low will drive the wind chill closer to zero.A brief bubble of high pressure build in from the southwest for Thursday, while another clipper low runs along the northern fringe of its circulation. The high is actually an Arctic high that moved in from the Upper Midwest days earlier, so that air will still be pretty cold – Thursday will only see highs in the mid 20s, with mostly cloudy skies and a few snow showers. Thursday night sees mostly cloudy skies with a few flurries and lows in the mid teens.Friday will be dry and partly cloudy as that high moves off into the Atlantic and mild air is wrapped into the west flank of its clockwise circulation. Highs will be in the lower 30s. Friday night will be dry and mostly cloudy with seasonable lows in the mid teens.Peering into next weekend, there will be a Canadian high to the north, and a storm system over the Lower Mississippi attempting to push northeastward. Model projections show the first effort failing Saturday, while the storm’s second run succeeds on Sunday. This could be a messy mixed precip event, starting as snow, transitioning to sleet/freezing rain, and then back to snow as the low moves over Southern New England, so it will to be watched closely for potential travel impacts. Temperatures will likely be in the mid to upper 30s for highs both days, with lows in the upper 20s to low 30s.Graphics courtesy of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center.Extended OutlookThe first half of February looks to see a switch in the jetstream wave pattern, with the ridge of warmer air now over the East Coast, and colder polar air over the Mountain West. Tompkins County will be between the two air masses roughly where the jet stream is passing overhead, which also puts it on the prevailing storm track. The result is a seasonably cold and wetter than normal pattern expected for the first week of February. The post Weather: Glancing blows from storms, and gusty winds appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.