A bit of snow capped off the Arctic air invasion

The local snowfall proved to be a bit more than the flurries mentioned in the last blogpost. The storm which brought multiple inches of snow to the Carolina beaches pushed enough moisture westward to include Mecklenburg county in the "fun". In fact, areas as far west as South Boston received a dusting from this event.

The very cold air in place likely helped bump up the snow depths locally. Typically in this part of Virginia the snow to liquid ratio is 10:1, i.e. ten inches of snow for every one inch of available liquid. But when temperatures are as low as they've been recently that ratio can jump up to 15:1 or higher. That makes for very fluffy - instead of wet - snow, which piles up higher than usual.

After Wednesday morning lows in the teens local thermometers will struggle to record afternoon highs in the upper 20s, even under sunny skies. A northerly breeze will keep wind chills a few degrees lower than the air temperature, so bundling up in layers for any outdoor time would be wise. As high pressure settles in overhead later today the winds will go calm under clear skies. That will set the stage for even colder overnight temperatures thanks to "radiational cooling" which is illustrated here:

Radiational cooling example

Thus, expect Thursday morning temperatures to drop into the single digits(!) across the county for the coldest night so far this month. That nadir will be the last gasp of the current round of Arctic air. By tomorrow afternoon temperatures will climb back above the freezing mark for the first time since last weekend. Highs Thursday will top out in the mid- to upper 30s under partly sunny skies.

The good news for those tired of this extreme cold? By the weekend temperatures will be back to seasonal averages, which may feel balmy compared to the recent chill!