Winter storm approaching, but with less hype than usual

We could be in store for a high-quality snowstorm Friday night into the weekend. But after watching previous storms turn into total busts, the meteorological community seems to be pretty laid-back about this next storm.

It does appear that we have a good chance of receiving accumulating snow Friday night, but this will likely be tempered by warmer temperatures -- and plain ol' liquid rain -- on Saturday, leading to a slushy mess. Our recent run of pleasant weather means that ground temperatures are unusually warm for early January, so that will also put a damper on snow accumulations.

Nevertheless, the computer models have been steadily cranking out respectable snowfall totals for Cape Girardeau County and points to the north and west.

Looking at the average of several computer model runs, we have a 70+% chance of getting at least two inches:

...and a 40+% chance of picking up four inches:

...and we even have an outside shot (5%) at more than eight inches:

The storm itself is still over the Pacific Ocean, and so the computer models could easily shift once the system comes ashore and is better sampled. We shall see.