Snow Event Wednesday Morning (04/03/2019)

This potential has been in the cards for the past week and while the odds were never very high, these odds have skyrocketed substantially over the past 24-hours. This isn't going to be a major event for many (accumulations will likely be confined to the hills), but it will have a high impact to the Wednesday morning commute...good news though as temperatures quickly warm into the 50's to near 60 during the afternoon.

A vigorous piece of shortwave energy at 500mb will be associated with a very strong area of low pressure just off the coast. The track and strength of the system will help to maintain a rather unseasonably cold low-level airmass over the region. Surface temperatures will be marginal which will reduce accumulations and likely limit them to the hills, however, there is tremendous upward vertical motion associated with this system and that will increase the likelihood for snow falling even if temperatures are as high as 34-35°F:

Let's break it down:

• Rain will begin to transition over to snow (especially in the hills between 2:00 and 5:00 AM Wednesday morning).
• A 3-5 hour burst of heavy snow is possible where snowfall rates could approach 1.5''/hour. 
• Snow will be wet and sticky. 
• Snow ends by mid-Wednesday morning and then temperatures quickly warm into the 50's to near 60 by the afternoon.