…Strong low pressure with blizzard conditions for portions of the Upper
Midwest and Great Lakes through tonight…
…Threat of strong to severe thunderstorms continues through this evening
from southern Delmarva to the Coastal Carolinas ahead of a strong cold
front…
…Rain and mountain snow returns to the West Coast and Intermountain
West…
…Critical fire weather conditions ramp up again across the southern High
Plains Thursday and Friday…
A major low pressure system with a plethora of hazards will continue to
track to the north and east across the Great Lakes and into southern
Quebec tonight through the day on Thursday. Blizzard conditions will
persist northwest of the low center from portions of Iowa to the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan. Several more inches of snow is expected through
this evening and overnight. The snow combined with 40 to 60 mph wind gusts
will create whiteouts and near-zero visibility at times, leading to
hazardous driving conditions. Weather conditions should improve by
Thursday morning as the heaviest snow moves out and winds gradually
subside.
To the south and east, strong southerly flow ahead of an advancing cold
front will lead to widespread heavy showers and thunderstorms up and down
the East Coast. The Storm Prediction Center continues to highlight the
southern Delmarva to the eastern Carolinas for potentially strong to
severe thunderstorms, which is where the best combination of wind shear
and instability currently resides. Overall, damaging winds are the primary
threat from these storms, but a few tornadoes can’t be ruled out either.
Given the overall progressive nature of the storm system, rainfall totals
are not expected to be extreme, but some areas may get 1 to locally 2
inches of rainfall before drier weather commences by early Thursday.
Out across the Western U.S., the next storm system is currently pushing
into California this afternoon as an upper level trough moves in. This
will lead to increasing showers across the state with heavy snowfall for
the Sierras through Thursday night. The moisture associated with this
system moves inland across the Great Basin and Intermountain West through
the day on Thursday, resulting in widespread low elevation rain showers
and mountain snow to round out the work week. Overall, 10 to 20 inches of
new snow will pile up across the high terrain, though locally higher
totals of 2 feet or more remain possible too. As the upper level trough
pushes eastward, low pressure develops in the lee of the Rockies later
Thursday into Friday. North of this low, a narrow band of snow from the
northern Rockies to the Central Plains is likely to bring a few to several
more inches of accumulation.
After a brief reprieve from critical fire weather conditions today, very
dry air and strong winds will ramp up the fire danger again on Thursday
and Friday across the high plains of eastern New Mexico and western Texas.
Afternoon relative humidities below 20 percent (and in some places below
10 percent) combined with dry fuels and wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph will
support widespread critical fire weather conditions with the potential for
locally extremely critical conditions as well.
Miller/Hamrick
Graphics available at
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php
Leave a Reply