Zachary Labe is a Cornell student majoring in atmospheric sciences who runs Cornell Weather.
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Ithaca, NY – Significantly colder air with chances of rain, snow showers and even light snow are likely over the next seven days across Central New York and the Ithaca area.
On Thursday night, a cold front will be moving through the area — with rain showers turning into some snow in the higher elevations toward Friday morning.
Behind the cold front, winds will increase slightly and shift out of the northwesterly direction. This flow off Lake Ontario — in combination with the colder temperatures — will allow for some lake effect precipitation to fall across central New York during the day on Friday. However, daytime temperatures will be above freezing so no snow accumulation is likely.
Lake effect snow showers will continue Friday night into Saturday morning. Temperatures will fall into the upper 20s overnight and may allow for some isolated areas to see a coating to inch or two of snow. Winds will also become breezy on Saturday with gusts upwards of 30mph.
By the beginning of next week, temperatures will increase back closer to normal levels. According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, the average high for Ithaca during this time of year is 51°F and the average low is 34°F. Partly to mostly cloudy skies are likely for Monday and Tuesday.
A strong cold front will approach the region for Wednesday. Behind this storm system temperatures will rapidly fall — again — into the 20s and 30s, which are well below normal values for this time of year. The northwesterly wind flow will create some lake effect snow showers during this time period. However, no significant snow accumulations are expected.
Looking at the longer-range forecast in the November 14-21 period, well below normal temperatures are expected through mid month across the northern United States. Some areas across the north central plains may see temperatures drop below 0°F!
Closer to Ithaca, we can expect high temperatures in the 30s with lows in the 20s. Chances of mixed precipitation may also be possible. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a 70-80% chance of below normal temperatures in the 8-14 day time frame.