A strong cold front that moved through earlier this week has ushered in a dramatic pattern change. We had seen temperatures above normal for such a large part of the fall season that a shift to near normal temperatures comes as quite a wakeup call. However, we are not stopping there.

A major upper level trough will dig in over the eastern third of the United States for the weekend, and it will bring in a big push of below normal temperatures as we move forward.

Here at midweek we find ourselves embarking on a mostly drier pattern. Behind the Dec. 5 front, we have seen strong flow in out of the west and slightly northwest. That west flow will help keep clouds from being a large problem through the rest of the week, but near the Great Lakes we do have to watch for some lake-enhanced clouds and even some snow flurries here and there.

The best lake enhancement this time around seems to get going around the shores of Lake Erie, particularly on Dec. 7. But, we have no major frontal boundary action in for the rest of the week. In fact, strong surface, high pressure will accompany the cold air in this weekend as the jet stream dips down deep over the eastern United States.

The weekend looks dry as the cold settles in. But next week we are seeing signs that we will get our first accumulating snows of the year. Clouds will be on the increase on Dec. 11, and on Dec. 12 we have snow showers that move through the state with a minor low pressure system. The available moisture for this event is limited to a quarter of an inch or less, but with temperatures topping out below freezing, we look for this little system to trigger several inches of snow accumulation over the region.

Now, for full disclosure, no good meteorologist forecasts actual snow totals so far in advance – the numbers are too easy to change. But, this being the first potential snow of the season, we want to put up at least on map that shows the potential.

This is not an exact forecast – listen to Hoosier Ag Today on-air or online as we get closer to the event for true details – but it gives an idea of the way the potential looks here at midweek for the system next week.

A large part of the rest of our 10-day period also looks uninteresting. After that little snow wave next week, we are dry for a few days. An upper level low sits over the Great Lakes for the latter part of next week, but it does not throw much action down our way. Two strong lows and their associated fronts sweep through the Deep South, keeping the heaviest precipitation outside of our area on from Dec. 15-17.

However, we are watching these fronts closely, because a slight drift in one of them north could bring substantial moisture in to the region, and if we remain cold, it could be a mess. For now, we look to dodge the bullet, but stay tuned.

Ryan Martin is Chief Meteorologist for Hoosier Ag Today, a licensed Commodity Trader and the Farmer Origination Specialist for Louis Dreyfus Company’s Claypool Indiana Soybean Crush Plant. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World.