ITHACA, N.Y. — On the one hand, temperatures will be fairly seasonable over the next week. On the other hand, there will be several storm systems, either weak or delivering glancing blows, that will make for an unsettled week ahead. A system that will impact the Ithaca area next weekend bears monitoring for the risk of widespread icy conditions and travel impacts, but at least for the next several days no major weather-related disruptions are anticipated.
Your Weekly Weather
At present, there’s a weak frontal trough passing to the north, with partly to mostly cloudy skies and some light snow showers across the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier. The lake effect snow machine is fired up, but the westerly wind fetch means that the band is staying well to the north of Tompkins County. Over the next few days, snowfall amounts locally will be light, 1-3″ by Wednesday morning. Further up north towards Watertown, it’s 2-2.5 feet.
For your Sunday, expect a few light snow showers this morning, ending as the trough moves away to the northeast. Highs will be seasonable, in the mid 30s, with partly cloudy skies and a stiff west breeze and wind gusts up to 30 MPH. The winds will settle tonight, with a few passing clouds and lows in the mid teens.
A powerful storm will pass well to the north Monday, and the primary concern becomes the very tight pressure gradient it creates rather than the precip. That tight gradient will drive a stiff and potentially damaging wind across WNY and NNY late Monday night, and a few isolated power outages and downed tree limbs may occur in Tompkins County…