…Critical fire weather conditions will continue across coastal southern
California today but improvement expected toward end of week…
…A brief moderation of temperatures across the central U.S. before an
arctic front plunges into the northern U.S. on Friday…
…Localized heavy lake effect snow showers will begin to wane downwind of
the Great Lakes tonight but at least light snow to continue into Friday..
The general weather pattern will consist of a mid-level trough over the
Southern California that will move eastward and help alleviate fire
weather concerns by Thursday (more on that in the discussion). The central
U.S. will have a warm front pass through the region and bring warmer
temperatures and a chance for snow showers in the Midwest and Great Lakes
with its passage. Overall, ridging will build into the area into
Friday.The eastern U.S. looks to remain broadly in a troughing pattern as
an area of low pressure and surface fronts move over the Great Lakes.
Southern California will maintain locally extreme fire danger across
portions of Ventura and Los Angeles counties through this afternoon with
northeasterly wind gusts of 30-50 mph (isolated 60 mph gusts), across
mountainous regions.The potential for rapid fire growth and localized
downed trees and power outages will still remain. Conditions look to
improve during the day on Thursday as the surface pressure gradient
weakens and winds begin to shift toward weakly onshore, but a PDS Red Flag
Warning continues until noon on Thursday as the winds will be slow to
weaken. Visit the local weather forecast office for specific information
and watches/warnings.
A very cold airmass remains in place across the Midwest to East Coast. The
Midwest will begin to see its temperatures modify. Thursday and Friday
will be 10-20 degrees warmer than average for this time of the year. High
temperatures in the 40s and 50s will be commonplace across the region. The
east coast will not be so quick to modify as troughing continues over the
region and highs will be 5-15 degrees below average Thursday before
approaching near average on Friday. Thursday morning lows will be quite
chilly in the single digits for interior regions of the Ohio Valley and
Northeast. Coastal regions and the 95 corridor may still see lows in the
teens. Friday morning will see lows in the 20s with New England still
quite chilly with lows in the single digits possible. T
Lake effect snow showers will continue to the east of Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario today with a couple of inches still possible, especially along the
eastern shores of Lake Eerie where a Lake Effect Snow Warning is valid
through early Thursday morning. However,coverage and intensity should
begin to diminish in advance of a warm front approaching from the west.
While temperatures will be warming across the Great Lakes and Northeast,
another round of light to moderate snow will be advancing east from the
upper Great Lakes on Thursday, reaching the central Appalachians and
Northeast later in the day on Thursday. Snowfall accumulations with this
system are expected to remain low.
Elsewhere, the South will be rather seasonable for this time of the year
with chilly rain showers along the northern Gulf Coast. A front should
start to die entering the region in the next 24 hours, while an inverted
trough continues to bring unsettled weather in the Gulf of Mexico. Eyes
then turn to the northern Plains on Friday as an Arctic front drops down
into the northern Plains and brings the threat for snow squalls and
dangerously cold temperatures. Stay tuned with key messages on the cold
blast on the Weather Prediction Center website.
Wilder/Otto
Graphics available at
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php