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Insider Blog: How we managed to miss the worst of the system that was parked directly overhead on Friday

Friday's dull and grey weather may have you itching to travel, but we actually escaped the worst of this system; even as the low pressure system sat right overhead on Friday.

We did have a low risk of severe storms on Friday, but fortunately managed to miss out completely.

As the cold and warm air battle it out this time of year, the jet stream can get pretty active across the lower 48. When we get big dips in the jet stream like this, they often reflect at the surface as strong storm systems, much like the one we've seen this week. This creates a strong surface low pressure system that can have wide spread and wide ranging impacts.

If we look back 24 hours, as the storm progressed east, we watched it produce snow across new Mexico, gusty winds across northern Texas, blizzard warnings in Kansas, severe storms in Oklahoma, and even wildfires in northwestern Kansas. 

As this system has moved closer to mid-Missouri, we saw severe thunderstorm warnings early Friday in southern Missouri. We even had some snow as close as Kansas City and St. Joseph.

If we look at the cold front that extends south out of this low pressure system, we see it's bringing the potential for tornadoes Friday evening along the Florida panhandle. 

Of course, folks will still feel the impact all over again Saturday. As the cloud cover and shower chance leaves us, this cold front will swing out towards the east coast and bring the chance for severe storms all the way from, again the Florida panhandle all the way up through the Carolinas, and that threat extends as far north as central New York. 

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John Ross

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