CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR...

Most of us are probably happy to be missed by this weekend's powerful winter storm. Just look at the extent of the impacts with advisories and warnings stretched across the country:

When you zoom in on the Midwest there's a myriad of hazards - Blizzard Warnings, Ice Storm Warnings along with Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories:

A strong high pressure system over North Dakota will keep the storm on this southerly track. Additionally, the low pressure system isn't overly strong (not very deep), as a stronger storm would tend to track further northeast.

High pressure, along with drier air filtering in on the north side of the system, will lead to snow being confined to far southern Iowa. There are some minor differences in exactly where the cutoff is, but it's going to be sharp. Here's the latest from the European model:

The GFS:

Here's a short-term model, the Hi-Resolution Rapid Refresh:

And the NWS forecast:

There are some wide ranges, accounting for the different possibilities with this system. Regardless, the QC & CR areas will not be experiencing big impacts from this storm. Minor accumulation is possible up to I-80.

Ice is also unfortunately a part of this storm and has already been causing travel troubles on Saturday (in fact, the Kansas City Chiefs had a 4 hour delay due to the winter storm). Here's the latest snow/ice forecast from the NWS for portions of Kansas and Missouri:

Whether you're in the storm or out of it, the cold air will remain across the Upper Midwest. Temperatures will be held to the teens once again Sunday:

There will be sun on Monday and temperatures will be bumped every so slightly into the 20s:

The rest of the week will be quiet and cold with temperatures remaining below normal and below freezing.

Rebecca Kopelman