Rain turned to snow today near noon with several hours of snow blanketing Springfield with around 1″ of snow. This is the most so far this season. Other areas near and north of the interstate also picked up light accumulations of snow.
The rain across Northern Arkansas into Southeast Missouri will gradually slip south. Some sleet will be possible and there could even be a little freezing rain. Amounts will be light though and no impacts are expected. Clouds will continue to thin out from the northwest opening the door to a cold night, especially across areas with some snow cover.
New Year’s Eve will start with a thin blanket of high cloudiness. This should make for a beautiful sunrise. The high cloudiness will remain thin enough for some sun, especially during the morning. Clouds will thicken up heading through the afternoon with rain spreading north out of Arkansas by the end of the day. Temperatures will remain cold with highs in the mid to upper 30s. Snow-covered areas will likely stay a little chillier than areas without any snow.
The cold, dry air mass will remain in place into the early evening as rain spreads north. This will lead to temperatures falling into the low 30s as the rain sets in. The cold rain may mix with sleet early on with a transition over to freezing rain with some sleet by mid-evening. Winds at the surface will tend to become more northeasterly making it tough for temperatures to warm very much overnight. This may mean a more prolonged period of freezing rain before temperatures can edge above the freezing mark Friday morning. If this happens, a more significant icing event will be possible with areas north of Hwy. 60 the most at risk. A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for areas north of Hwy. 54 for Thursday night through noon Friday and there’s some potential an advisory of some kind may be posted for areas further east and south.
Temperatures Friday morning should edge a little above freezing in most areas with rain showers and drizzle remaining possible into the afternoon. Temperatures may slip back to freezing by late afternoon with some patchy freezing drizzle or flurries possible late in the afternoon into the overnight.
Another upper-level storm will move across the area Saturday generating a wave of light snow or snow showers during the day Saturday. Temperatures look cold enough for minor snow accumulations with the highest chance for snow and snow accumulations along and north of the interstate. Temperatures probably won’t warm too much above freezing to the northwest and only into the mid to upper 30s to the southeast.
A warming trend gets underway Sunday with sunshine and highs in the 40s and 50s.
The upcoming week looks relatively mild with temperatures remaining above normal. There will be another round of rain moving through Tuesday night into Wednesday.
