12/19/2024: Big Blast of Cold Air Looming
The Latest Storm Tracker Forecast from Meteorologists Matt Mackie and Kevin Appleby:
With Wednesday evening's rain and mountain snow in the rearview mirror, temperatures are gradually but consistently decreasing through the upcoming weekend. A clipper system will impact the region Friday, brining a light, festive snowfall to our area.
While a bit on the breezy side and cooler than the previous several days, Thursday will be the warmest of the next 6 days or so as high temperatures for most climb above freezing. Clouds will be more common during the afternoon, especially over the mountains.
More signs of the incoming chill are featured in our forecast for tonight as temperatures are expected to drop into the low to mid 20s in much of the area, and into the teens in the high terrain.
With a cloudier sky, temperatures Friday will struggle to get above freezing across the board. Snow showers will become more common, especially to the west, for the second half of the day.
A clipper system will be swinging down from Canada, bringing periods of light snow to the region particularly during the second half of Friday into Saturday morning. Accumulations don't look eye-popping, but we expect most of the News10 viewing area to have slippery roads during this weak storm.
When all is said and done, a widespread 1-3 inches of snow is forecast for areas west of the Hudson River. Lower amounts will generally be found to the east, with some exceptions in upslope-favored areas of Western New England.
This system will really drag in the colder air! A brisk Saturday is ahead with mostly cloudy skies, a few lingering snow showers, and temperatures held in the 20s. After we wake up Sunday morning in the single digits in most spots, temperatures will struggle to get out of the teens all day long - in spite of abundant sunshine - as a very cold air mass engulfs the Capital Region and Western New England. This also sets the stage for even colder conditions Monday morning, which could be Albany's lowest temperature in two years.
Despite the frigid start, temperatures begin to moderate Monday afternoon. That moderation trend looks to continue, as a matter of fact, well beyond our current 7-day forecast. It's not immediate, however... Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we are anticipating a few snow showers which may provide a few of us with the highly-desired White Christmas. By Christmas Day, also the start of Hannukah, high temperatures for a lot of the area will creep up above freezing, by then feeling balmy compared to the blast of chill that looms for this weekend.