Well there's plenty to talk about weatherwise this weekend. I'll start with the forecast, but check the bottom of the story for some interesting links, including info on a potential St. Patrick's Day aurora.
So one year ago, on March 16, 2012, the high was 64 degrees without an ounce of rain and a few days later it was 81 degrees. Yeah, that's not the case for this year. Saturday's highs will be in the 20s and lake effect snow will persist most of the day out of the northwest. Overnight, Harvey picked up the most with nearly 10". The heavy snow has even caused a few whiteouts in Marquette County.
There will be some snow across the northwest wind snow belts and perhaps some light snow across the rest of the UP Saturday night, but the real action is around Marquette, Alger, and northern Schoolcraft counties. The National Weather Service has issued Lake Effect Snow Warnings and Advisories for those areas. Additional snowfall amounts through early Sunday could see 2" to 5" for those counties or even more nearest to Lake Superior and in higher terrains.
Saturday night's lows will fall to the 10s mainly, but coldest inland which could drop below zero. Skies and snowfall will steadily clear up as high pressure enters the area.
Sunday's highs will also be in the mid 20s, but skies will be mostly sunny and conditions will be drier and calmer under a high pressure center. Sundy night will be less cold with lows in the mid 10s and mostly clear skies.
Monday will see increasing cloudiness and warmer temps in the low 30s ahead of a low pressure system. A winter storm may bring some significant snowfall across the region with continued lake effect for Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Thursday, as well as colder temperatures.
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Now for some other notes of interest... First, the Sun launched a CME directly toward Earth on Friday, meaning that by the time it gets here on Sunday, we could see the aurora welcome us with green skies for St. Patrick's Day. Check out more info here. If you see anything, please let me know!
Also, has anyone heard anything about the Comet Pan-STARRS? I'm seeing some really cool pictures come from the Northern Hemisphere, including the US, but I've never seen it. Here's more info from NASA. I love their Youtube channel.
Lastly, I LOVE atmospheric gravity waves. The atmosphere is a fluid, and therefore behaves near identically to the ocean, so you can often find waves in the clouds. Check out this AWESOME satellite picture of the South Sandwich Islands in the Atlantic and their effects on the clouds. It looks like ships moving west, but really it's just the clouds moving east.
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