This article focuses on what we are paying attention to in the next 48 to 72 hours. The article also includes weather maps for longer-term U.S. outlooks (up to four weeks) and a six-day World weather outlook which can be very useful for travelers.
First the NWS Short Range Forecast. The afternoon NWS text update can be found here after about 4 p.m. New York time but it is unlikely to have changed very much from the morning update. The images in this article automatically update.
Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
Tue Jan 07 2025
Valid 12Z Tue Jan 07 2025 – 12Z Thu Jan 09 2025…Moderate to heavy lake-effect snow downwind from the Great Lakes on
Tuesday and Wednesday……A Developing Winter Storm will produce snow and rain/freezing rain,
icing, over parts of Texas on Wednesday……Light snow over parts of the Great Basin, Southwest, and
Central/Southern Rockies on Tuesday and over the Northern Rockies/Northern
High Plains on Wednesday……There is a Critical Risk of fire weather over parts of Southern
California on Tuesday and Wednesday, with an Extremely Critical Risk for
portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Wednesday…Cold high pressure over the Northern High Plains will move southeastward
to the Ohio Valley by Thursday. The cold air and upper-level energy will
aid in producing moderate to heavy lake-effect snow downwind from the
Great Lakes through Thursday. In addition, moderate to heavy upslope snow
will develop over parts of Northern New England, and light to moderate
upslope snow over the Central Appalachians will develop through Thursday.Meanwhile, strong high pressure will develop over parts of the Great
Basin, setting up Santa Ana winds over Southern California on Tuesday,
that will continue into Wednesday. Therefore, the SPC has issued a
Critical Risk Fire Weather Outlook over parts of Southern California on
Tuesday and Wednesday, with an Extremely Critical Outlook for portions of
Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Wednesday. Winds of 20 to 25 mph on
Tuesday, increasing up to 40 mph on Wednesday, with stronger gusts in
terrain-favored areas, along with low relative humidity, and dry fuels
will contribute to dangerous conditions.Moreover, on Tuesday, upper-level energy over Southern California will
move southward to Northwestern Mexico, creating a deep upper low over the
region by Wednesday. The energy will begin to move eastward over Northern
Mexico by Thursday. By Tuesday morning, light to moderate snow will
develop over parts of the Great Basin and the Northern/Central Rockies.
Light to moderate snow will develop over parts of the Southern Rockies by
Tuesday evening.The system will produce light snow over West Texas on Wednesday before a
more significant storm on Thursday. Many areas from northern Texas,
including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, will have at least some chance
(>30%) of wintry weather. With cold air already in place, a wintry mix of
snow, sleet, and freezing rain is forecast for the Southern Plains, which
may cause hazardous driving conditions, starting late Wednesday night and
continuing into Thursday morning.Further, additional upper-level energy will move over the Pacific
Northwest Wednesday morning and reach the Central Rockies by Thursday,
aiding in the development of a new front from the Northern/Central Plains
into the Central Rockies. The new energy will create a short-lived light
coastal rain and higher-elevation snow over parts of the Pacific Northwest
on early Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening, light snow will develop
over parts of the Northern Rockies, expanding into parts of the Northern
Plains and Central Rockies by Thursday.
To get your local forecast plus active alerts and warnings click HERE and enter your city, state or zip code.
Learn about wave patterns HERE.
Then, looking at the world and of course, the U.S. shows here also. Today we are looking at precipitation.
Please click on “Read More” below to access the full Daily Report issued today.
| Notices: What would you like to learn about? Please provide that to me via the comment section at the end of the article. |
Now more detail on the 48-Hour Forecast (It is a 48 to 72 Hour Forecast actually)
Daily weather maps. The Day 1 map updates twice a day and the Day 2 and 3 maps update only once a day. These maps update automatically. But if that does not happen, you can get updates by clicking HERE
TODAY (or late in the day the evening/overnight map will appear) (Key to surface fronts shown on maps and you will then also be able to insert a city name or zip code and get a local NWS forecast).
TOMORROW
NEXT DAY
We have a new animation of the forecast which shows how things may play out over the next 60 hours. To update click ANIMATION. Doing so will get you to the dashboard. You can then step through the animation or hit LOOP on the upper right of the display. You will have to hit the back arrow ← at the top left on your computer to get back into this article. It is a little more trouble than before but I think NOAA scrapped the animation routine I was using so we have to keep up with “progress”.
The NWS Climate Prediction Center’s: Watches, Warnings, and Advisories plus other information can be found HERE. That takes you to the NWC Severe Weather Site. From there you can select among many categories of information. Remember to hit the back arrow ← at the top left of your screen to return to this article.
ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS
This tells us what is approaching the West Coast. Click HERE to update If I have not gotten around to doing the update. Here is some useful information about Atmospheric Rivers.
Below is the current five-day cumulative forecast of precipitation (Updates can be found HERE)
Ski SnowReports
New Feature – Ski Reports. It is difficult to find reports that auto-update on-screen (and they are very long) but these links will get you to them – If you have additional suggestions make them in the comments section after every Econcurrents Article and we may add those links. We will try to not have too much overlap as that can add to the confusion.
Snow Forecasts. And remember this shows natural snow. Ski resorts also make their own snow.
Day 1
Day 2
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. These links may also be useful for those viewing this article on a cell phone or other small screen.
| Days 6 – 10 (shown in Row 1) | Days 8 – 14 (Shown in Row 2) | Weeks 3 and 4 (Shown in Row 3 but updates only on Fridays) |
| https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa. gov/products/predictions/610day/ | https://www.cpc.ncep .noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/ | https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/WK34/ |
Showing the actual maps. They should now update automatically. The Week 3 – 4 Outlook only updates on Fridays. So below is what I call the Intermediate-term outlook. On Fridays, it extends out 28 Days. That declines day by day so on Thursday it only looks out 22 days until the next day when the Week 3 – 4 Outlook is updated and this extends the outlook by one additional week.
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10
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HAZARDS OUTLOOKS
Click here for the latest complete Day 3 -7 Hazards forecast which updates only on weekdays. Once a week probably Monday or Tuesday I will update the images. I provided the link for readers to get daily updates on weekdays. Use your own judgment to decide if you need to update these images. I update almost all the images Friday Night for the weekend edition of this Weather Report. So normally readers do not need to update these images but if the weather is changing quickly you may want to.
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
World Forecast [that website is has been intermittent so be patient]
Below are the Day 1 -3 and 4-6 forecasts for temperature and precipitation. Updates and much additional information can be obtained HERE
World Temperature Anomalies
World Accumulated Precipitation
This information is provided by the University of Maine. They draw upon many different sources. There is a lot of information available at the link provided. I have just provided two useful forecasts. There are probably over a hundred different forecasts available from this source.
Worldwide Tropical Forecast (This is a NOAA Product)
This graphic updates on Tuesdays) If it has not been updated, you can get the update by clicking here Readers will only have to do that if they are reading this article much later than the date of it being published.
Information on Tropical Storms can be found HERE. Western Pacific information can be found HERE. Note that unless there is an out-of-season storm the below images will not update until the National Hurricane Center starts their seasonal update of these maps on June 1. I include them simply because there can be an out-of-season event in which case it should show up in these maps.
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| I hope you found this article interesting and useful. |
