Snow flurries overnight gave way to a chilly start to our work week; the day's cloud cover and blustery conditions only allowed afternoon highs to reach into the mid 30s for many of us - Evansville tipped the scales at 36° earlier this afternoon. Temperatures will gradually dwindle back toward the mid 20s overnight. We'll wake up to a morning low of 25° and mainly cloudy skies Tuesday morning, though the mercury is expected to climb a bit higher later tomorrow. Tuesday's anticipated peak temperature of 37° however, is still 5° below the norm for February 2nd.
Speaking of February 2nd, Tuesday is Groundhog Day - the current forecast in Punxsutawney, PA calls for scattered snow showers and plenty of cloud cover, meaning Punxsutawney Phil may not see his shadow and forecast an early start to spring. Despite what everyone's favorite prognosticating rodent whispers into the ear of his handler tomorrow morning, the forecast for the Tri-State looks anything but spring-like. Sure, Thursday will bring about rain chances and highs near 50°, but the mild weather won't last into the weekend ahead.
The combination of two cold front and the super-chill arctic airmass flowing in behind will drive temperatures back down below 10° in the River City for the first time since November of 2019. In fact, the current model data suggests that the mercury may fall as low as 0° in spots early Sunday morning with wind chill values approaching -20° at times - if this forecast holds, Sunday morning will be our coldest in more than 2 years! The last time we saw temperatures that cold was on the morning of January 30th, 2019. There are even hints that actual air temperatures could dive well below 0° early next Monday morning.
We'll continue to monitor the situation as it continues to evolve and will notify you of any changes to our bitterly cold forecast.
Wear Your Mask.