WINTER WEATHER ALERT: Snow Possible Tomorrow Morning, Ice on Tuesday Night???

Here we go, folks - we're only in the first 10 days of meteorological winter, and already, some concerns.

First, tonight. A disturbance out to the west will swing through tonight and the first half of tomorrow. I look for precipitation to begin overnight, possibly as early as 4-5 AM. This will start out as wintry (snow), transition to a rain/snow mix, and maybe end as all rain if the atmosphere warms enough.

Our highs today only made the 35 degree mark. We WILL drop into the 20s tonight (in fact the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is at 30 and so at the next observation should be around 28-29 degrees), so there's not much doubt we'll start as snow, I don't expect to fall much further than that so expect it to be around 26 when you wake up in the morning.

By 9 AM I look for us to be around 32, and at that point warm air should work into the middle levels of the atmosphere, so rain should start mixing in then. If we warm all layers enough, we may end as all rain by noontime. I do not, however, think we will make 40 degrees - with the precipitation around early, we should stay around 36 for a high.

Then, focus turns to another, larger storm on Tuesday and Wednesday. At this time...I expect this to come in around 5 or 6 PM. Precip type also is a concern with this one. I do not see the area being much above freezing - and quick evaporational cooling COULD send us plummeting below freezing - which would mean an icy mess on Tuesday evening. Freezing rain and sleet could be a problem, so keep that in mind when planning for activities on Tuesday night. Either way, warm air surges north overnight Tuesday night and that should change us over to all rain which would continue through the first half of Wednesday. At that point, the cold front comes south early Wednesday afternoon. Once that happens, temperatures plummet again Wednesday night, changing anything that's left BACK to wintry precipitation this time in the form of snow, and a quick 1 inch is possible.

There's another threat of wintry precipitation at the end of the week - but we'll not worry much about that until we get to Wednesday night and Thursday. Suffice to say right now, that looks like it's all snow.

More tomorrow...