Quick update 1/8/16

In the post I did on Wednesday the 6th (click here) I showed 3 upper level systems that had impacted the plains or were expected to do so.  X2 in the previous post had moved across Kansas as of Friday morning and it brought primarily "RAIN" to parts of the high plains and especially east of the area.  Here is a map of the precipitation:  (click for a larger map)...

 
There was actually a pretty good soaking across much of central and eastern Kansas, but very little snow except for north central Kansas!  Something that has become very apparent since the late December storm that pounded west Texas and eastern New Mexico with a blizzard.  The El Nino (warm equatorial Pacific waters) influences on the weather pattern has FINALLY  taken place!  In most years, this type of system (X2) would have produced snow and not rain!

Now attention turns to what I labeled as X3 in the previous post.  Look at the satellite image from this morning...

 
Former X3 has split into pieces! There is no longer one system, but at least 3 smaller scale disturbances.  So, instead of tracking out into the plains from southeast Colorado and into north central Kansas, it appears that the "energy" and what is left of X3 will come out much farther south and in these pieces.  The result will be heavy mountain snows across north central New Mexico and southern Colorado and then a lesser amount of snow into the plains.  Check your local NWS office (weather.gov) for details on how much will fall, but the majority will skirt across the panhandles and east along the Kansas/Oklahoma border.  It doesn't appear that it will be a major storm.

The other item I discussed in the post I did Wednesday was the turn to sharply colder for the weekend.  It looks like the influences from the equatorial Pacific will win out again as the really cold air will be shunted east into the Great Lakes.  The NFL game in Minneapolis should be entertaining watching players and fans "freeze" in the bitter cold air.

I also posted that on average temperatures should be below normal through 10 to 14 days.  But, I've reassessed that notion given the fact that these influences from the equatorial Pacific have briefly taken over.  I still have a strong hunch of a decent storm dropping out of the Rockies.  Originally I thought around January 17-18, but that possibility may occur sooner (perhaps the 15th instead).  The flow aloft has recently become rather chaotic with many splits in the jetstream.  The weather ought be unsettled during this next few weeks.  I'll give a try at updating on Monday and see where we are at.