Latest snow storm appears to weaken

Published 9:04 am Saturday, April 7, 2018

Good news for all you Facebook meme-sharers and weather doomsayers.

According to the National Weather Service, Sunday’s storm that had the potential to dump six to eight inches of snow is showing a weakening trend.

According to meteorologist Jeff Boyne out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, emerging weather models are showing the chances for big snow totals are likely to drop as we get closer to Sunday.

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“It looks like the potential is coming down from where we are currently,” Boyne said. “Coming out of South Dakota, [the system] is gradually weakening, producing less snow.”

A reason it’s trending downward is the time of the season. The sun is higher in the sky and having more of an affect on the surface, making it harder for snow to accumulate.

“Strong sunshine tends to warm up the roads and as a result, snow may not accumulate,” Boyne said.

According to current predictions as of Friday afternoon, the weekend storm was going to slide into the area and begin dumping snow primarily after 1 p.m. Sunday with 1 to 2 inches expected. That’s expected to continue into the night where another 2 to 4 inches is expected before gradually slackening off.

A high of 32 degrees is expected with a low around 26 degrees.

Temperatures will begin to rise next week, but not before nearing or even bypassing record lows this morning with temperatures of single digits possible.

The record for this date was set in 2007 when temperatures dipped to 13.

“Temperatures are warming up later into the week,” Boyne said, though he cautioned that it will stay unseasonably cool for this time of year. “Monday we’ll have highs in the mid 30s and by the time we get to Wednesday we’ll be in the mid 40s.”

“However, that’s still low for this time of year. Usually, we’re more into the upper 50s by now,” he continued. “Temperatures are still going to be cooler, but better than where we are now.”

As models for this storm shift downward it also hints that the flooding threat will decrease as the ground loses more of its freeze and moisture is allowed to seep in more. In fact, Boyne said, our area could actually use a little more precipitation, which we may still get later this spring, though Boyne cautioned this was still difficult to say for sure.

“The odds are tilted toward wetter than normal,” he said. “The area is a little bit below normal. We could actually use a little rain.”