Winter Storm Janus

Alerts

*WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 7 AM TUESDAY TO 11 PM TUESDAY *

 *WIND CHILL ADVISORY FROM TUESDAY 6PM UNTIL WEDNESDAY 12PM*

Low temperatures for Tuesday night (courtesy of NWS)

Tuesday: Snow starting to fall by 10 am. Should taper off by 7 pm. Temperatures dropping as low as 14 degrees. By 2 pm, winds should be steady at 15-20 mph with gusts reaching 30 mph. Snow total between 6-8 inches.

Tuesday Night: Snow will continue sporadically as night falls Winds sustained 15-20 mph from the NNW. Temperatures will drop down to 5 degrees with wind chills going as low as -12 degrees.

Wednesday Morning: Single digit temperatures and wind chills in the near negative 20 degrees. Advised to stay inside to avoid frostbite and hypothermia

Live Updates

As the storm arrives look for the storm to pick up throughout the day and the temperatures to fall. I know some of you woke up this morning and thought...Hey where's the snow! Well this storm as you can see has arrived. This "Clipper system" is a fast moving storm, but the intensity and low pressure of this storm is not as common. This storm will continue to move southward, but will eventually develop a strong surface low right off the Atlantic coast causing the entire eastern seaboard from DC to Cape Cod to receive significant snowfall amounts.

11:00AM (Jimmy Luehrs)-I apologize for not having another update sooner. Well as you can see the snow has arrived and it will be moderately snowing throughout the day. One might think, oh this storm isn’t that bad! Well that is because the low-pressure system bringing the cold air and more moderate to heavy bands of snow has not arrived. Those bands will arrive anywhere from 1-3pm and should continue through the evening rush hour. This means if you are going to drive, which I strongly suggest you do not, please do it before then. Why I tell you this, is not only is it going to start snowing heavier, but the winds will start picking up reducing visibility down to less than a mile. All classes and offices will be closed for today starting at 11:30am, and like always the university will wait all the way UNTIL 5am to make their decision on whether or not classes will go on for Wednesday. The forecast has changed a bit temperature wise and thus changed the amount of snow we will received. I tend to believe what is on the lower end of things, but look for anywhere from 6-8 inches of snow with near blizzard like conditions tonight into this evening. This will be our first good snowstorm in a couple of years in this area. Go have fun and stay safe Mason!

Also if you have good pictures from the storm please submit them to either Nick or me so we can post them up on the Twitter and Facebook page. Last time one of the pictures managed to be retweeted by the Weather Channel!

12:15 pm (Nick Stasiak) - Current temperature is 27.1 degrees. Wind driven snow is starting to accumulate on sidewalks and roads. Expecting another 4-5 inches in the coming hours. Heavier snow coming. Wind gusts reaching 30 mph by 3 pm. Temperatures dropping below 20 degrees by 2 pm.

2:45 pm (Nick Stasiak) - Current temperature is 23.4 degrees. Strongest wind gust sitting at 25 mph. Still expecting another 2 1/2 - 3 inches of snow. Will be going out soon to take photos. Like Jimmy said, if you have any photos, please send them to us.

Measurement taken at 4:45pm by Katie Thomas

5:25 pm (Katie Thomas) - As Winter Storm Janus plows through our region, we will continue to see blizzard conditions. As of 5:00pm, Mason has seen between 3-5 inches of snow. A measurement I took outside my dorm was a good 4 ½ inches deep. The snowfall will continue to vary into the evening; during rush hour the snow can become heavier at times and then giving way to tampering off  later into the evening.  This new snow accumulation is sought to be around an additional 1 ½-2 inches. You should expect snowfall to begin to stop around 10pm tonight, but don’t be surprised if we see some occasional flurries well into the night hours. As Janus makes her way up the East Coast, the temperatures are going to continue to drop well into tomorrow afternoon. Tonight expect the low to be around 7 degrees with a wind chill as low as -9 degrees. These low temperatures will freeze any precipitation on the ground; so don’t be surprised to see icy conditions in the morning. Tomorrow, we will see some sunshine, but the temperatures will remain in the single digits—high near 12 degrees. Winds will become steady around 13 to 17 mph, therefore we will see a wind chill as low as -12 degrees.

Mason has said they will make the decision regarding any closures due to inclement weather by 5am Wednesday morning. Stay safe during your commutes, enjoy the rest of your snow day and please continue to submit your photos! Stay with ForecastGMU for continuous live updates!

7:00 pm (Nick Stasiak) - Current temperature is 18.8 degrees. Final snow band is coming through now. Snowfall should taper down in the next hour. Icy conditions already on campus. Fairfax County Public Schools are CLOSED tomorrow.