…Disruptive winter storm to impact the Central Plains to the
Mid-Atlantic through Monday with widespread heavy snow and damaging ice
accumulations…
…Severe thunderstorms expected across the Lower Mississippi Valley on
Sunday…
…Pacific Northwest to Northern/Central Rockies to remain active with
lower elevation rain and mountain snow through Monday…
A winter storm is expected to develop tonight over the central U.S. as low
pressure organizes from the Texas Panhandle into Oklahoma. Below average
temperatures already in place across a broad swath of the Central Plains
to Midwest will be met with increasing ascent ahead of a potent mid-level
low to track from Kansas tonight, to Virginia/North Carolina on Monday. At
the surface, as the low tracks essentially due east toward the East Coast
over the next 48 hours, mixed precipitation over portions of Kansas and
southern Nebraska will changeover to all snow during the day on Sunday as
winds increase from the north. The combination of blowing snow and wind
gusts to 40 mph will result in significantly reduced visibility and
blizzard conditions at times from Kansas into portions of the lower
Missouri River Valley.
Snow, heavy at times, along with sleet and freezing rain will translate
eastward on Sunday and Sunday night through the Ohio Valley into the
Mid-Atlantic region. Freezing rain and bands of heavy snow will result in
severe travel delays along the storm’s track. Snowfall of 6 to over 12
inches is expected to the north of I-70 from near Salina to St. Louis. A
swath of heavy snow exceeding 15 inches from northeastern Kansas into
north-central Missouri would be the heaviest snowfall in a decade. A
stripe of 6 to roughly 12 inches is expected to impact locations between
I-70 and I-64 across the Ohio Valley with mixed precipitation along the
southern edges. An elongated path of freezing rain accumulations in excess
of 0.25 inches is likely from southeastern Missouri into central Kentucky
with potential for 0.50 inches which would result in widespread tree
damage and long-lasting power outages. Moderate to locally heavy snow is
expected to reach the northern Mid-Atlantic region Sunday night with a
wintry mix expanding from the central Appalachians to central/eastern
Virginia.
On the warm side of the storm system, severe thunderstorms are expected
ahead of the storm system’s cold front as it crosses the Lower Mississippi
Valley. Threats for tornadoes, large hail and damaging straight line winds
have prompted the Storm Prediction Center to carry an Enhanced Risk (level
3/5) of severe thunderstorms from northeastern Louisiana into western
Mississippi on Sunday. Locally heavy rain will also accompany these storms
as they move eastward ahead of the cold front on into the southeastern
U.S.
While temperatures will be anomalously warm from eastern Texas into the
Lower Mississippi on Sunday, a renewed blast of cold air will follow
behind the storm into the central and southern U.S. where high
temperatures on Monday are expected to be 15 to 25 degrees below average.
Across the West, a pair of storm systems are forecast to move into the
Pacific Northwest tonight and Sunday night, bringing lower elevation rain
to the Coastal Ranges of Washington and Oregon, with mountain snow from
the Cascades to the higher elevations of the northern and central Rockies.
While a few cooler pockets may exist, temperatures west of the Continental
Divide will generally be above average through Monday, up to 10-15 degrees
above early January averages.
Otto
Graphics available at
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php
