Bad News, Bad News, Good News, Bad News? - Updated 03/17/16

In the last post I did on the 10th I discussed the possibility of freezing temperatures (without even looking at much weather).  It is so early!  It didn't take much of a cold airmass to deliver the bad news.  This morning the mercury dropped down into the teens at some locations in Kansas.  Some 20s were noted in the panhandles too. Click on the map for a larger version...

 
I'm assuming it was cold enough and the wheat far enough along across southwest Kansas that there was probably some damage this morning.  That was the first bad news.  The second...perhaps even colder over a larger area by Saturday morning.  Yep, it's early in the spring and this should be expected anyway. 

The good news?  On this mornings satellite image, there was a disturbance across northern Idaho that will race southeast and will provide enough lift and energy to bring a swath of rain (but snow too) across parts of the plains.  But only a small area will receive the beneficial moisture.

 

The expected precipitation amounts (or I should say the potential amounts - including melted down snow)...



The 3rd bad news?  Going back to the satellite...the jet stream is really screwed up!  That east to west flow across the Great Lakes and into central Canada is pretty unusual.  I'm going to have to have some time to interrogate the pattern across the Northern Hemisphere.  It is NOT what I was expecting.  I originally thought March could end up wetter than normal.  But, I'm NOT liking the trend I'm seeing, even into April.

I hope to update by Sunday or next Monday...