Columbia's first significant snowfall of the season began at noon today, about a month later than usual. Though only a few inches fell by evening, the snow brought a pleasing change to the drab, winter landscape.
A stationary front draped across the central Midwest throughout the day, keeping the temperature within a narrow range (29-32 degrees F) and allowing a low-pressure "disturbance" to move west to east along its track. This mobile center of lift produced a broad swath of snowfall across Missouri, with the heaviest accumulations along and north of I-70.
While the snow will drift eastward overnight, the cold air will remain entrenched and the white blanket may persist until another storm arrives over the weekend. Though the winter solstice is still a couple of weeks away, the season has now officially arrived. I'll take snow over cold rain any day!
