NE Blizzard Still Coming Along With North Shore Freeze...

There have only been subtle changes to the thinking from yesterday.  The East Coast blizzard is still coming, but the southern push of the Arctic air will stay to our north and east.  NWS is keeping temps slightly above freezing for near the Lake on the South Shore while the North Shore will dip into the mid to upper 20s.

The reasons for it not getting so cold can be attributed to the sun coming out sooner than expected allowing highs to recover into the mid 50s, plus the coldest air in Canada has not poured down into the lower 48 with the super cold lingering way up in Canada.

There will not be any frost in the morning since the winds will stay strong, plus the dew points are very low (dry air), so the main damage to tender plants tonight will be dehydration.   I'll bring in my tropical hanging baskets and a couple of my potted plants, but I'm not going gung ho like I did for last week's freeze. I'll bring them back out on Sunday. 

The top graphic is the surface map valid for Saturday evening with the next two being the snowfall predictions of 2-3 feet in the red areas.  This has been well advertised all over the media outlets so anyone trapped on freeways or away from homes should not be surprised.  Travel will become impossible Saturday into Sunday.  

 You can see the real bitter cold up in Canada has moderated somewhat with no sub-zero temps down over the U.S. We saw one surge of colder air arrive this morning with the secondary surge getting here before dawn.   The core of the secondary cold will be mainly to our east with Florida getting colder than us.  

The upper trough will quickly lift out to the Northeast on Sunday sparking a huge warm up her for next week.

We have a freeze potential the next 2 nights depending which side of the Lake you live.  After that, the 60s & 70s will feel really warm!   Finally, a couple of satellite views.

The top picture is centered on the Rockies where recent snows have brought much needed snowfall.  I drew in where the white is clouds versus snow on the ground.  The next two captured fires (arrows) in Louisiana.  See how the smoke plumes are blown southward with the strong northerly winds.  Going out tonight or early on Saturday, bundle up as wind chills will add to the cold feeling.  Stay tuned!