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January 24 - 31 Cold Blast


MNstorms
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Yikes. NWS forecast for me:

Quote
Tuesday
Patchy blowing snow after 11am. Mostly sunny and cold, with a temperature falling to around -17 by 5pm. Wind chill values as low as -45. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tuesday Night
Patchy blowing snow before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -30. Wind chill values as low as -58. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near -18. West northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around -33. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

 

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LOT

.LONG TERM...
319 AM CST

Tuesday through Sunday...

Certainly the main story continues to be the well advertised period
of dangerously and potentially historic cold temperatures from
Tuesday evening through Thursday morning.  The latest forecast still
has the Rockford area very near their all time record low of minus 27
Tuesday night and a couple degrees colder than that Wednesday
night. The forecast daytime high Wednesday around minus 15 for
RFD would beat their all time record coldest high of minus 14.
The forecast lows for Chicago presently look a few degrees above
their all time record which also is minus 27 but the forecast
daytime high Wednesday around minus 14 would beat their all time
record coldest high of minus 11. For both locations, the all time
record that looks most in jeopardy would be the all time coldest
average temperature for one day which is around minus 18 at both
sites. As an aside, the daily records for both locations look to
be crushed on Wednesday and Thursday.

Aside from all the talk about numbers, wind chill headlines also
deserve a mention.  Was not sure how best to handle wind chill
watch, advisory, and warning decisions based on the different onset
times from northwest to southeast across the forecast area.  For all
locations the key period of warning level wind chills, meaning below
minus 30 degrees, would be Tuesday evening to about noon Thursday.
This matches the watch that was issued this morning. This does not
mean to imply that the daytime Tuesday or the afternoon of Thursday
will be balmy in any way.  Wind chill advisory headlines may very
well be needed both before and after the warning period.  This is
especially true toward the northwest third of the forecast area
which likely will need an advisory starting Tuesday morning.  For
Thursday afternoon, highs look to be in the single digits both below
and above zero but winds look relatively light with a ridge moving
overhead.

Beyond the cold period...on Thursday night both the GFS and ECMWF
now want to show a quick shot of light snow associated with a weak
shortwave aloft and a bit of warm advection at lower levels.
Obviously it is too early to give this significant attention with
the bigger concerns in the near term, but anticipated QPF amounts
presently would not suggest this would warrant additional
headlines later in the week.

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10 minutes ago, Roger Smith said:

Temp/dp of -53/-62 F at Geraldton ON north of Lake Superior this morning (13z obs). 

Wow. This town is located at 50N. Per Wikipedia, their all-time record low is -58F, and their normal January low is -13F.  So, this morning's low is 40 degrees below normal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenstone,_Ontario

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Posting various AFDs for posterity.

DLH

Arctic air streams into the Northland tonight with overnight lows
generally between 10 and 30 below zero. Winds are expected to
remain elevated overnight due to cold air advection keeping the
low-levels mixed along with a tightening pressure gradient.
Resultant wind chills of 30 to 55 below zero are expected
overnight. With the prolonged period of dangerously cold
temperatures and wind chills, have decided to issue a Wind Chill
Watch from 06Z tonight through 15Z Thursday.

Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills will continue
through the day Tuesday. Afternoon highs will struggle to reach 20
below along our western border and will climb into the middle
single digits below zero in our eastern zones. Winds will
strengthen as the pressure gradient tightens during the day with
wind chills in the 40s below zero west and to around 20 below zero
east.

.LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Sunday)
Issued at 421 AM CST Mon Jan 28 2019

The period will start off very cold, especially Tuesday night
into Thursday.

The Northland will see very low temperatures and dangerous wind
chills Tuesday night, wind chills that are not very common even
for northern Minnesota. The area will be between high pressure
centered over the Dakotas and low pressure well off to the east
Tuesday night and this will lead to sustained wind speeds between
8 and 15 MPH for most areas. The wind combined with overnight lows
from 25 below to 35 below zero will create wind chills from 45
below to 60 below zero. The lowest wind chills will occur over the
western half of the area. High temperatures Wednesday will only
be from 5 below to around 10 below over northwest Wisconsin and
from 10 below to 18 below over northern Minnesota and wind chills
will only improve to 25 below to 40 below during the afternoon. As
the upper low moves further east, a surface ridge will move over
the area Wednesday night. The ridge will be over most of the
Northland by 12Z Thursday and winds will be lower than Tuesday
night, and may go calm in spots. Despite the coldest air aloft
moderating Wednesday/Wednesday night slightly, Wednesday nights
lows will be colder in spots than Tuesday night due to good
radiational cooling conditions. Low temperatures will drop to 25
below to around 30 below for most of northern Wisconsin and from
30 below to around 45 below over much of northern Minnesota. Wind
chills will be from 30 below to around 50 below but wind speeds
will be quite a bit lower than what occurs Tuesday night into
Wednesday. More sun is expected on Thursday, outside of the South
Shore area. Highs will rise into the single digits below zero and
wind chills will be less of a concern by Thursday afternoon.

The surface high will continue through the Northland Thursday
night with lows in the teens below zero to around 25 below and
with lighter winds, wind chill values from 20 below to 35 below
are expected.
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15 minutes ago, cyclone77 said:

Point's been lowered down to -28 for Thu morning.  The all-time record at MLI is -28 from early feb '96.  

:thumbsup:

For here, it's -22 Wed morning, -14 for the high on Wed, then -26 Thu morning. If the models don't deviate from what is currently progged on the GFS and Euro, I could see both of our points dropping another 1-2 degrees.

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I guess this was kind of expected...but, unfortunately, the GFS appears to be backing off on the severity of the airmass a bit.  Coldest H85 temps on the 12z GFS for N IL are now around -35C, compared to -38C a couple of days ago. Even more concerning is that the duration of the extremely cold H85 temps is quite a bit shorter than it looked a few days ago...meaning that the timing of everything will need to work out even more perfectly.

Not pointing this out to raise alarm or anything, as this will still be a special event. But when going for all-time records, every degree counts.

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Here at MKE the local news are calling for -23 and -55 wind chill, and -60 in Waukesha where I work. Those numbers just seem impossible that they’ll verify, I certainly don’t think my car would start or anything. We do have a really nice 8-10” fresh snow pack though that continues to build.. 

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Wind Chill Warning from LOT

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Chicago IL
136 PM CST Mon Jan 28 2019

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>022-INZ001-002-290345-
/O.UPG.KLOT.WC.A.0002.190130T0000Z-190131T1800Z/
/O.NEW.KLOT.WC.W.0001.190130T0000Z-190131T1800Z/
/O.NEW.KLOT.WC.Y.0003.190129T1000Z-190130T0000Z/
/O.CON.KLOT.WW.Y.0006.000000T0000Z-190129T0000Z/
Winnebago-Boone-McHenry-Lake IL-Ogle-Lee-DeKalb-Kane-DuPage-Cook-
La Salle-Kendall-Grundy-Will-Lake IN-Porter-
Including the cities of Rockford, Belvidere, Woodstock, Waukegan,
Oregon, Dixon, DeKalb, Aurora, Elgin, Wheaton, Chicago, Ottawa,
Oswego, Morris, Joliet, Gary, and Valparaiso
136 PM CST Mon Jan 28 2019

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS
EVENING...
...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 6 PM CST TUESDAY...
...WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM TUESDAY TO NOON CST
THURSDAY...

* WHAT...Light snow and areas of blowing snow this afternoon.
  Dangerously cold wind chills expected. Wind chills 20 to 30
  below Tuesday and as low as 55 below zero expected Tuesday night
  through Thursday morning.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest Indiana and north central and
  northeast Illinois.

* WHEN...For the Wind Chill Warning, from 6 PM Tuesday to noon
  CST Thursday. For the Winter Weather Advisory, until 6 PM CST
  this evening. For the Wind Chill Advisory, from 4 AM to 6 PM
  CST Tuesday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The
  hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening
  commute. The dangerously cold wind chills could cause
  frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Wind Chill Warning means the combination of very cold air and
the wind will create dangerously low wind chill values. Frostbite
can occur quickly and even hypothermia or death if precautions
are not taken.
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9 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Too bad it appears the coldest 850 mb temps will pass over DVN in between RAOB times.  They should do off hour launches for something like this.  

The intern that would have to perform the flight disagrees ;)

U of Iowa has already cancelled classes Tuesday PM - Thursday. Wonder who will follow suit

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Large bare spots in the yard now, with crusty dirty glaciers remaining. 


If there’s a better recipe for depression, I don’t know what it is. Sorry for your loss.

On the other side of the coin, we’re reloaded and refreshed here on the IL/WI Stateline and in optimal shape to maximize the potential of the incoming airmass. I do have to say my thoughts keep going to the wildlife. Going to be very hard on them.
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DVN

.CLIMATE...
ISSUED AT 251 AM CST Mon Jan 28 2019

Record lows for January 29th...

Burlington........ -19 in 1966
Cedar Rapids...... -24 in 1966
Dubuque........... -26 in 1951
Moline............ -19 in 1966

Record lows for January 30th...

Burlington........ -20 in 1899
Cedar Rapids...... -22 in 1951
Dubuque........... -25 in 1951
Moline............ -14 in 1966 and previous years

Record cool highs for January 30th...

Dubuque............ -3 in 1996
Moline............. -2 in 1951

Record lows for January 31st...

Burlington........ -20 in 1996
Cedar Rapids...... -21 in 1996 and previous years
Dubuque........... -24 in 1996
Moline............ -21 in 1996

Coldest January low temperatures...

Burlington........ -24 on  1/14/1957
Cedar Rapids...... -29* on 1/15/2009
Dubuque........... -32 on  1/07/1887
Moline............ -27 on  1/16/2009
                           1/02/1979
                           1/05/1884
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LOT

.LONG TERM...
243 PM CST

Tuesday through Monday...

Lobe of the polar vortex will pivot southeast into the western
Great Lakes region Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night with
guidance in excellent agreement advertising record or near record
low 500mb heights and 850mb temps.

Tuesday, continued and strengthening cold air advection will not
only result in minimal rise in temps Tuesday, but also help
steepen up the low level lapse rates. The steep low level lapse
rates and DCVA associated with approaching strong vort max in the
base of the upper low should support at least flurries and likely
some scattered snow showers as well during the afternoon. While
models largely show little or no QPF tomorrow afternoon, the
amount of water vapor in the column at these temps is minuscule
and could easily see some respectable snow showers that locally
whiten the ground without actually producing measurable liquid
precip. Snow showers threat should diminish inversion heights
lower and vort lobe passes to our east Tuesday evening.

Really very little change in thinking temperature-wise that hasn`t
been extensively covered in the past several AFDs. As mentioned in
the previous AFD this morning, have gone ahead with a wind chill
advisory for 10z Tue through 00z Wed. Wouldn`t normally do a
separate advisory, however the forecast duration of the advisory
level conditions are easily 12+ hours. Roughly included counties
along and northwest of I-55 in collaboration with ILX/MKX/DVN. We
ramp the advisory up to a wind chill warning starting 00z Wed and
running through 18z Thursday. Winds chills will commonly be 30 to
45 below zero for the duration of the warning with the period of
lowest wind chills (likely as low as 40 to 55 below zero)
expected after midnight Tuesday night through midday Wednesday.

After discounting what we think (and hope) are unrealistically low
2m temps in the GFS and GFS-FV3, we`re left with a suite of
guidance that is in good agreement with respect to temperatures.
The strong model agreement does help ease the inherent uncertainty
in forecasting all time record breaking temperatures. At this
point, it appears fairly likely that both Chicago and Rockford
will break the daily record cold high temperature Wednesday, as
long as temps at 12:01 AM Wednesday (Tues night) are at or below
the record low maxes (see climate section for specifics).

One notable change in model guidance over the past 24 hours is
with respect to placement of the surface ridge axis. There is now
strong agreement in said surface high being directly over northern
IL and northwest IN late Wed night into Thursday morning. Very
deep snow pack, expected clear or mostly clear skies, and light
winds with nearby high sets the stage for very strong radiational
cooling Wednesday night. As it looks in the model guidance now,
hard to envision the all time record low temperature for the state
not being threatened or broken at one of the typical cold spots
Thursday morning. Both the ECMWF and GEM have fairly widespread
temps in the -30`s, and saw no reason to not expand the area of
lows colder than minus 30 in the grids early Thur morning. The
one saving grace Thur morning with be much lighter, if not calm,
winds, which should keep wind chills from being quite as low as
Wednesday.

Northwest flow clipper system is progged to ride the northwest
flow on the heels of departing upper trough Thursday night. This
clipper will likely produce a swath of accumulating snow, though
at this distance the track this clipper takes is still uncertain.
Our CWA is certainly within the cone of uncertainty of the track
and we`ll need to keep an eye on this system.

In the wake of that clipper, large scale pattern change is
expected across the CONUS heading into next weekend. The result
will be a more zonal flow which should allow MUCH milder Pacific
air to spread into the area. Does look like we could be in a
somewhat unsettled patten later this weekend into next week.

- Izzi
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