Short-Range Weather Forecast
Lake effect snow will continue into the weekend as two more quick moving systems will bring widespread snow to the Upper Great Lakes. High winds are expected across portions of Montana through the weekend...
Source: Rob Cook, robcookkc@gmail.com
Snow Continues in the Great Lakes; Above Normal Temperatures in the West
Lake effect snow will continue into the weekend as two more quick moving systems will bring widespread snow to the Upper Great Lakes. High winds are expected across portions of Montana through the weekend. Below normal temperatures will remain in place across much of the southern and eastern U.S., while the western U.S. will experience above normal temperatures.
...More lake-effect/lake-enhanced snow downwind from Lakes Erie and Ontario...
...Arctic air currently engulfing much of the eastern U.S. will gradually moderate over the next couple of days...
...Dry and milder than average temperatures in the western U.S. will spread into the northern and central U.S. through the next couple of days...
Under an intense surge of arctic air, Friday morning will begin with the coldest temperatures so far this season across much of the central and eastern U.S. with blustery conditions and a piercing wind chill. The persistent flow of arctic over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes has continued to bring lake-effect snows downwind into the Snow Belt. By later today into tonight, another clipper currently forming along the arctic front will spread more snow across the Great Lakes from northwest to southeast. By Saturday, still another clipper will bring more widespread snowfall across the upper Great Lakes, reaching into the lower lakes Saturday night. Milder air could change some of the snow to rain Saturday afternoon near the western fringe of these areas. As much as two additional feet of new snow is possible near the eastern shore of Lake Ontario through the next couple of days. Lighter snowfall amounts can be expected elsewhere along the Snow Belt.
After a morning with wind chills possibly falling below zero across the mountains of the Applachains, conditions are expected to improve through the next couple of days as southwesterly winds begin to bring milder air from the western U.S. into the northern and central Plains. The most drastic recovery will be found over the northern High Plains where high temperatures could top 60 degrees by Saturday afternoon.
The retreating arctic high pressure system that brings the milder air into the northern U.S. will also bring increasing moisture into Texas. It appears that rain will expand in coverage across southern to eastern Texas through Saturday ahead of an upper trough. Additional influx of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico could begin to raise the threat of heavy rain from eastern Texas into Louisiana by early on Sunday.
After a tranquil Friday, increasingly unsettled weather is expected for the Pacific Northwest by the weekend. Rain showers and some high elevation snow will return to Washington State and Oregon by Saturaday as the next front moves through. The mountain snow and low-elevation rain will progress farther inland, reaching into the northern Rockies by early Sunday as a low pressure system begins to develop across the northern High Plains into Alberta Province of Canada. Much of the remainder of the western U.S. will remain dry and milder than normal as high pressure dominates the region. High temperatures will be in the 80s across the Southwest while 70s and 60s will prevail from southern California to the Pacific Northwest.
Kong