ST. LOUIS, Mo. – There will be a mix of clouds and sun this morning that will trend back toward more clouds than sun this afternoon. There may even be a couple of rogue snow flurries around near and north of I-70 along with cold, gusty winds. Temperatures will stay in the 30s today.
Saturday and Sunday will be dry with a mix of clouds and sun and continued cold temperatures, several degrees below normal but not extreme for this time of year.
Next week will a week that features two key weather systems, focused around two new surges of cold air. The first one is centered on late Monday into Monday night. This system is weakening as it approaches, and it has minimal moisture to work with. Still, it may hold on long enough to produce a period of light snow or flurries in the period from Monday late afternoon into Monday night. If the system holds together long enough, some very minor accumulation is possible west of St. Louis Monday afternoon and evening.
The second cold front of the week is by far the strongest and it is still scheduled for Wednesday night and Thursday. There is no question this front will deliver some of the coldest late December air we’ve seen since 1989. Just how cold will have a lot to do with how much snow the front generates as it rolls through. The atmosphere will be starved for moisture at that point, but the energy of the front alone may be capable of squeezing out an inch or two of snow.
The latest guidance puts the chance for 1″ or more of snow with this system somewhere in the 20% to 40% range, with a probability of 4″ or more at around 10%. If there is snow on the ground for the Christmas weekend, temperatures may well go below zero if skies clear out. If there is now snow on the ground, single digits above zero are still possible.