Weather Forecast: Today, Tonight, Tomorrow, Next Day, Five Days, for the U.S. and the World with links for longer-term forecasts: posted February 2, 2023

Updated at 6:42 p.m. Thursday, February 2, 2023

Here is what we are paying attention to in the next 48 to 72 hours. This article also includes World weather forecasts.

It also includes links for longer-term outlooks and sometimes (like today) we show the maps that one finds if one clicks on those links. But we can not update all of those maps each day so look at the date and the duration of the period of time involved. If you want a more up-to-date map, click on the provided link which may be located in a table of links. If the date in the title of the article is not today’s date. just go to Econcurrents.com and look for today’s weather article.

We start with the U.S. Information.

Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
259 PM EST Thu Feb 02 2023

Valid 00Z Fri Feb 03 2023 – 00Z Sun Feb 05 2023

…Bitter cold and dangerous wind chills to stretch from the Northern
Plains to the Northeast Friday into Saturday…

…Seasonably mild conditions return to the center of the country entering
the weekend after a chilly week…

…Periods of heavy snow return to the Sierra and Cascades late this week
into the weekend…

First, the 48-Hour Forecast (It is a 48 to 72 Hour Forecast actually)

Daily weather maps. I try to keep the below three maps updated. The Day 1 map updates twice a day and the Day 2 and 3 maps update only once a day. I will be doing the updating during the period described in the title of the article but if you happen to read this article later, you can get updates by clicking HERE.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON, EVENING AND OVERNIGHT

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

This animation shows how things may play out over the next 60 hours. To update click here.

ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS

Continuation of the NWS Short Range Forecast (It is updated by NWS twice a day and these updates can be found here. We post at least one of those updates daily, sometimes both. The Highlights are shown in the lede paragraph of this article.

A cold front sweeping southward across eastern and central portions of the
country will continue to bring bitterly cold, arctic temperatures across
the Northern Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. Highs on Friday from the
Midwest to the Interior Northeast/New England will be in the single digits
and teens, with some negative single digits for locations closer to the
Canadian border in New England. Locations closer to the coast along the
I-95 urban corridor will see highs in the teens and 20s. The cold weather
will continue into Saturday for the Northeast, with a few
record-tying/breaking lows in the single digits possible Saturday morning
for the New York City area and in the negative single digits for the
Boston and Providence areas. Gusty northwesterly winds upwards of 20 to 30
mph will lead to dangerously cold wind chills between -25 to -35 for
portions of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. Higher gusts of 35 to
45 mph in New England will bring even colder wind chills between -40 to
-50. Northern Maine could see wind chills as low as -65, matching some of
the coldest weather in decades.

In addition to the cold, snow squalls will be possible as the front moves
through late Thursday night, bringing the risk of quick bursts of heavy,
blinding snow leading to suddenly treacherous travel conditions.
Post-frontal flow over the Great Lakes will also lead to some moderate to
heavy lake-effect snow, especially for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
along Lake Superior and east of Lakes Erie and Ontario in New York.
Locations further south may not see quite the level of cold as further
north, but temperatures are still forecast to be much below average for
this time of year. Highs on Friday and Saturday from the Tennessee Valley
east to the Carolinas will be in the 30s and 40s, with 50s for the rest of
the inland Southeast and low 60s on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

Fortunately, the blast of cold air will be short-lived. A subtle ridge
aloft moving west to east over the Plains/Midwest Friday into Saturday
will help to bring more moderate temperatures to the region after a couple
rounds of bitter cold. The warm up will begin Friday for the High Plains
as downsloping winds lead to highs in the 40s and 50s. The warmer
temperatures will spread eastward on Saturday as the Northern Plains and
Midwest return to more seasonable temperatures in the 30s and 40s, with
50s for the Central Plains and the 50s and 60s for the Southern Plains.
Temperatures are also expected to quickly moderate for the East Coast just
beyond the current forecast period on Sunday.

A storm system will approach the Pacific northwest overnight Thursday into
Friday morning, bringing the chance for some light to moderate
coastal/lower elevation rain and moderate to heavy snow for the Olympic
Mountains, Cascades, and Sierra. Winds will be a bit gusty along the
coast. Some of this moisture will also reach the Northern Rockies and a
few inches of snow will be possible late Friday night and into Saturday
for the local mountain ranges. Temperatures will be seasonably mild across
the West, with 30s and 40s for the Rockies and Great Basin, 50s for the
Pacific Northwest and northern California, and 60s to mid-70s for Southern
California and the Desert Southwest. Precipitation chances will ramp up
again later Saturday for the West Coast as another system approaches the
region.

Below is the current five-day cumulative forecast of precipitation (Updates can be found HERE)

Now we look at Intermediate-Term “Outlook” maps for three time periods. Days 6 – 10, Days 8 – 14, and Weeks 3 and 4.  An outlook differs from a forecast based on how NOAA uses these terms in that an “outlook” presents information as deviation from normal and the likelihood of these deviations.

Below are the links to obtain updates and additional information. They are particularly useful if you happen to be reading this article significantly later than when it was published. I always try to provide readers with the source of the information in my articles.

Temperature month to date can be found at https://hprcc.unl.edu/products/maps/acis/MonthTDeptUS.png

Precipitation month to date can be found at  https://hprcc.unl.edu/products/maps/acis /MonthPNormUS.png

Worldwide Tropical Forecast (This is a NOAA Product)