Posted 9:40 AM Friday - Dave Longley - An Alberta Clipper is headed our way.  Tell your friends.  Actually all this thing is, is a quick moving low pressure area originating from Canada.  Since it is coming from the north, there isn't much moisture with it.  Winds will increase by this afternoon as the low now in SW Michigan heads our way.  Those winds will push our temperatures up into the 20s this afternoon.

The snow with this system looks to arrive sometime after 4 PM, so enjoy the sun this morning.  With the strong push of warmth in advance of this clipper coming our way trying to dislodge our arctic chill, there could be some locally heavy bursts of snow this evening.  The wind will really be ramping up to between 15 and 30 mph by this evening.  If you have to go out tonight, keep in mind you'll see falling snow, blowing snow and wind.

A general 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 inches of snow will accumulate by the time we get up Saturday.  Interestingly, our computer models continue to point out a NW-SE swath of heavy snow from eastern Oswego county through the southern Adirondacks.  I think the models are playing up the orographic lift up the south side of the Adirondacks a bit too much.  Still though, the NWS has issued snow advisories for Oneida and Madison counties into early Saturday.  Accumulations across Oneida county could be a bit closer to 3 to 6 inches.  The brisk southwest winds will keep temperatures in the low 30s.

Here's the 36 hr precipitation printed out by this morning's 12Z NAM.

The blue stripe corresponds to .50" or more of precipitation.  We'll see if that ends up verifying.

The widespread snow will have shifted to our east by sunrise Saturday.  Tomorrow will be another windy day with a few snow showers.  With air temperatures near 30, and some pretty cold air piling in aloft, the atmosphere will be pretty unstable tomorrow.  This will set the stage for some briefly heavier squalls of snow across all of CNY.  There should also be some added moisture input from Lake Ontario.  I think most spots could see another inch or so of snow tomorrow, with several inches possible across the Tug Hill plateau, thanks to the lake input.  It'll be a windy walk up to the Dome for the SU/Pitt game at Noon, with temps around 30.

Winds will become more northwesterly later tomorrow and that will swing any disorganized lake effect snows down closer to the Syracuse area tomorrow evening and tomorrow night.  Again, this will not be a big event, but I want to give you a heads up for the potential for a few inches of snow tomorrow night.

That snow will end during the early part of Sunday, the winds will diminish and the sun will return for Sunday. 

Dave