Record Cold in Cleveland!!!

Cleveland’s Record Cold              

The Cleveland Area has smashed record lows five (5) of the previous seven (7) days. Today was the most extreme as temperatures officially dropped to negative seventeen (-17) this morning. That is the coldest Cleveland reading ever for February and only three (3) degrees away from Cleveland’s all-time record low set in 1994.  This has been a week to remember or forget. The current cold pattern began on this past Saturday when an Alberta Clipper dropped 4-8 inches of snow across the area and allowed air originating in Siberia to settle in. The temperatures will moderate into the weekend as a low pressure will travel up the Ohio River valley spreading snow across the area. Cold air returns next week but should not (hopefully) be as brutal as what we just endured.

Currently arctic high pressure is moving to the east of the area after allowing temperatures to plummet well below zero across the entire area. Afternoon high temperatures should rise into the teens (10’s) A storm system will begin to organize over the  lower Mississippi Valley areas initially generating frozen precipitation before warmer area moves in and changes the precipitation to rain overnight. 

Light snow will quickly spread into the area on Saturday morning as a weak area of low pressure tracks through the Ohio Valley.  Snowfall amounts of 2-5 inches seem reasonable by the time the snow ends. The heaviest snows will fall on locations furthest south and east. Temperatures should rise all night and high temperatures will approach the freezing mark.  Across the lower Mississippi Valley returning moisture and warmth will support thunderstorms that have the potential to turn severe with large hail, strong winds, and a few isolated tornadoes.

On Sunday another arctic front will move through sending temperatures crashing.  

The core of the cold air will be moving through on Monday with high temperatures around ten (10) degrees. Overnight low temperatures will once again fall below zero (0).

On Tuesday another system will be approaching the area. Southerly flow ahead of the system should allow temperatures to rise to near twenty (20) degrees. Behind it yet another blast of arctic air will move into the area lasting into the end of the week.

The cold looks to hold through the end of the month. As March begins the models are split at how the weather pattern will or will not evolve. Previously all models were indicating a shift in the pattern that would move the trough and colder air to the Western part of the country allowing warmer and seasonable temperatures to develop over the Eastern half. Now some models are indicating that shift will not occur and the present pattern will remain locked in.  By next week it should become clearer what the month of March will hold. In the meantime February is potentially on track to become the coldest February on record of the area!