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
Thu Jan 09 2025
Valid 12Z Thu Jan 09 2025 – 12Z Sat Jan 11 2025…Decreasing light lake-effect snow downwind from the Lower Great Lakes
on Thursday……A developing Winter Storm will produce snow and rain/freezing rain,
icing, over parts of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley on
Thursday and over the Lower Mississippi Valley to the southern
Mid-Atlantic on Friday……Light snow over parts of the Upper Midwest on Thursday; Light to
moderate snow over the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley and light snow over parts
of the Northeast on Friday……There is a Critical Risk of fire weather over parts of Southern
California on Thursday…A developing winter storm will move out of Northern Mexico, advancing
eastward to the Western Gulf Coast by Thursday evening and to the Central
Gulf Coast by Friday morning. The storm will move northeastward to western
Florida by Friday evening and to the southern Mid-Atlantic Coast by
Saturday.The system will produce a swath of heavy snow along with ice, freezing
rain, from the Southern Plains to the southern Mid-Atlantic by Saturday.
Snowfall totals from 6-8 inches will develop from southeast Oklahoma
through western North Carolina. A quarter inch of ice, freezing rain, will
occur from the Southern Plains to the Lower Mississippi Valley. On Friday,
icing, freezing rain, will move over parts of the Southeast, Southern
Appalachians, and southern Mid-Atlantic, with amounts around a tenth of an
inch.A large area of moderate winter weather impacts will be associated with
the storm. Some impacts are widespread closures, treacherous travel,
scattered power outages, and downed branches expected from the Red River
Valley and southern Ozarks through the Lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee
Valley, and Southern Appalachians. Some of the heaviest snowfall will be
over the Tennessee Valley, which will be 6 inches on Friday.Meanwhile, on Thursday, strong high pressure over parts of the Northern
Intermountain Region and Great Basin will set up Santa Ana winds over
Southern California. Therefore, the SPC has issued a Critical Risk of fire
weather over parts of Southern California. Winds of 20 to 40 mph, with
stronger winds in the terrain, low relative humidity, and dry fuels have
contributed to the dangerous conditions.Moreover, on Thursday, exiting upper-level energy and developing weak
upper-level ridging over the Great Lakes will create waning light
lake-effect snow and upslope snow over parts of the Lower Great Lakes and
the Northeast that will end by Friday morning.Furthermore, upper-level energy over the Northern Intermountain Region
southward to the Southwest will develop a front extending from the
Northern/Central Plains to the Southern Rockies that will move eastward to
the Upper Great Lakes to the Southern Plains by Friday morning. The
boundary will begin to dissipate by Friday evening. However, the
associated upper-level trough will extend from the Great Lakes
southwestward to Northeastern Mexico by Saturday.On Thursday, the system will produce light snow over parts of the Upper
Midwest to the Central Plains/Middle Mississippi Valley. In addition, on
Friday, the boundary will deliver light to moderate snow over parts of the
Great Lakes/Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians. Additionally, light snow
will develop over parts of the Northeast.In the meantime, overnight Thursday, a new front will move onshore over
the Pacific Northwest and race eastward to the Northern Plains to the
Great Basin by Saturday. The system will trigger coastal rain and
higher-elevation snow over parts of the Pacific Northwest on Friday and
overnight Friday moderate to heavy snow over parts of the Northern
Intermountain Region. By Saturday, the light to moderate snow will expand
into parts of the Northern/Central Rockies and Great Basin.
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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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. |
