February 9, 2025 - American Public News

ITHACA, N.Y. — A seasonably cold week is in store, but Tompkins County looks to dodge the worst of potential snow falls until at least next weekend. Only light accumulations are currently expected over the next several days, though there will be a risk for slippery roads Thursday morning. Otherwise, no major weather disruptions are expected until at least next Saturday night, and even then, that system remains too far out to make any firm calls.Your Weekly WeatherGraphic courtesy of NWS Albany.Following yesterday evening’s storm system, which was something of a “bust” with less snowfall than forecast due to warmer air intruding further north than originally anticipated, it should a relatively quiet few days, with minimal accumulations between now and the middle of the week. Behind the exiting low, a broad and elongated area of high pressure will extend from the Northern Great Plains, across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast. This setup, with its winds out of the west, will drive the development of lake effect bands to the north, but with cooler lakes and surface lake ice limiting heat energy transfer to drive instability and snow band formation, these won’t be as strong as the bands you see early in the winter season when the water’s warmer.For the rest of Sunday, expect breezy northwest winds behind the counterclockwise-spinning low, with a few lingering snow showers, cloudy skies, and seasonable highs in the mid 30s. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with seasonable lows in the mid and upper teens.Turning to Monday, with the high pressure moving, it will be a dry day, with WNW winds, partly to mostly cloudy skies, and highs around 30. Monday night will be dry and mostly cloudy with lows in the lower teens.A weak shortwave pulse of instability will pass along the northern flank of the high Tuesday, and skies will be near-overcast, with a few late-day flurries. Accumulations are expected to be a coating at most. Highs will be in the lower 30s. Tuesday night will see a few flurries, near-overcast skies, and lows in the lower teens.The core of the high will be to over Quebec by Wednesday. Dry, mostly cloudy skies are likely, with highs in the upper 20s. A storm system is expected to move in Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The current forecast track over Lake Erie and Ontario would place Tompkins County in the warm sector of the low. Current model consensus does not show significant snowfall for the Ithaca area, just an inch or two overnight Wednesday. However, an eastward shift in storm track could result in much more snow, so it’s worth keeping an eye on. Lows Wednesday night are expected to be in the mid teens, with temps warming into the low 30s by sunrise.Turning to Thursday, let’s stress once again this is based on the current storm track and Tompkins County being in the warm sector. A snow to rain transition is expected a little after sunrise, with rain becoming more showery in the afternoon. Highs Thursday will be around 40. Thursday night will see rain showers transition back to snow showers as the core of the low passes to the north and northwest winds kick in. Lows will be around 20.Another bubble of high pressure moves in from the west for Friday. It will be dry and partly sunny with highs in the upper 20s. Friday night will see the possibility for some weak lake effect snow showers, and lows in the mid teens.Peering ahead into next weekend, there is the possibility of a storm system over the Mid-Atlantic Saturday evening into Sunday that would result in at least a few inches of snow, but it’s too early to give explicit details this far out. It’s something to keep an eye on and be aware of as we head into the week. Highs would be in the upper 20s to low 30s both days, with lows in the teens.Graphics courtesy of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center.Extended OutlookLooking into the second half of the month, the large-scale pattern calls for a pronounced trough in the jet stream over the Great Lakes and Northeast, which would result in substantially below normal temperatures for Tompkins County during the period. The setup would also be favorable for wicking moisture and storm system from the Gulf of Mexico northeastward across the Eastern Seaboard, so precip is likely to be slight above normal as well. This is favorable towards Nor’Easters, but given the vagaries in tracks and timing, “your mileage may vary”. The post Weather: Multiple storm systems coming, but minor snow totals appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.