BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Tuesday morning's snow won't be anything like what we saw Saturday in Illinois. The weekend's snow came fast and furious, surprising both residents and 5 On Your Side's team of meteorologists.
"There are very few times when I've been surprised by St. Louis weather," 32-year 5 On Your Side veteran meteorologist Scott Connell said.
Connell remembers nearly all major weather events during his 30-plus-year tenure.
"The very first year I was here, if you look back in the record books, we had a snow in early November," he said.
But a surprise half-foot? Now that is one for his record book.
"Saturday was a surprise," he said, shaking his head.
Meteorologist Garry Frank explains what happened.
"We started off with rain, still above freezing," he said. "Then the cold air set in and it turned to a rain/snow mix. The mix transitioned over to snow with a heavy band that extended from Farmington to Effingham."
The unceasing snow left 5 to 7 inches behind.
Connell explained what the team looks for in a snow forecast.
"One of the things we look at when we are trying to make our forecast are small-scale features, but our computer models are built for larger-scale features," Connell said.
Small-scale features the 5 On Your Side Weather First Meteorology team looked at were warm, 50-degree ground temperatures and a layer of dry air in the atmosphere.
Even though we had both of those features Saturday, Connell explains, "heavy snow overcame the dry air but also threw out the 50-degree ground temperatures, snow is going to stick, it's coming down too fast it can't melt fast enough."
And that's what happened Saturday. As for tonight, it's a more straightforward system and we have more confidence in our forecast.
