More Snow For the End of This Week

The region got a healthy dumping of snow right before Thanksgiving, but much of that has melted in recent days (and what's left will be gone by Thursday). Here's the current snow depth (and this may be overestimating how much is actually left):Bitterly cold air is reloading across Canada. Take a look at the temperatures at 9am Eastern this morning:The leading edge of the cold is pushing into North Dakota and Montana, and it's all coming south and east in the next several days.Ahead of the cold....MILD air! Enjoy the 50s Wednesday and Thursday. It map be the last time we see those temperatures for quite some time.By Thursday night and Friday, moisture will line up along and behind the leading edge of the cold, and the result will be a variety of precipitation across the eastern half of the country...including an ugly ice storm in the Southern Plains:Across northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania, precipitation is likely to be (mostly) snow and may come in TWO waves. The first Thursday night and the second late Friday/Friday night. The first wave may feature a transition from rain to snow, while it should just be all snow late Friday/Friday night.How much? Here's a comparison of the European model (top) and the GFS model (bottom). They have a similar idea; heaviest snow in western/central Ohio, with lighter amounts north and east. Based on this and other data, I am ready to put out a "first call" forecast of 2-4" for the WFMJ viewing area from Thursday night to Friday night. We will be adjusting this forecast as need be over the next couple of days.