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
Sat Jan 18 2025
Valid 12Z Sat Jan 18 2025 – 12Z Mon Jan 20 2025…Winter storm to bring moderate to heavy snow to the Mid-Atlantic and
Northeast Sunday……Snow showers with moderate accumulations continue Saturday through the
central Rockies and adjacent central/southern High Plains……Arctic front brings dangerous cold to much of the nation this weekend…
Moisture lifting northward ahead of a storm system/cold front pushing
through the eastern U.S. will bring wintry precipitation to the north and
rain and thunderstorms to the Southeast Saturday. A light to moderate
wintry mix is expected to move from the Great Lakes into the Appalachians
and interior Northeast, with mostly light rain showers elsewhere in the
Ohio Valley/Southeast and along the East Coast. An enhanced flow of Gulf
moisture over northern Florida will bring some more intense showers and
thunderstorms Saturday night with locally heavy rainfall and the risk for
some isolated flash flooding. A changeover to snow is expected Saturday
night for the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys following cold frontal passage,
though accumulations should generally remain light. Then, an upper-level
shortwave traversing the southern U.S. will help to encourage the
development/deepening of an area of low pressure as it moves off the coast
of the Mid-Atlantic. This will lead to an enhanced swath of snow to the
northwest of the low track beginning early Sunday morning across the
Appalachians and continuing into the day Sunday from the northern
Mid-Atlantic to New England. The swath of heaviest snow (5-8″+) will
likely stay just to the north and west of the I-95 corridor. However, 3-6″
of snow with locally higher amounts is expected from northern Maryland
through Boston. Lake-effect snow will also continue this weekend for
favorable locations downwind of the Great Lakes with strong northwesterly
flow in place following the frontal passage.Elsewhere, snow showers will continue Friday for portions of the Rockies
and adjacent central/southern High Plains in post-frontal upslope flow.
Moderate totals of 3-6″ are possible in vicinity of the Raton Mesa.
Otherwise, the rest of the central/western U.S. will be mostly dry this
weekend.Besides the impactful winter weather, dangerously cold temperatures
spreading across much of the Lower 48 this weekend and into next week will
be the other big weather story. Arctic air will plunge southward Saturday
over the Rockies, Plains, and Midwest following the cold frontal passage,
and will reach the East Coast Sunday night as the front moves off into the
Atlantic. Forecast highs by Sunday range from below zero to the single
digits in the northern Plains/Upper Midwest, the teens and 20s across the
central Plains and Midwest, the 20s and 30s for the southern Plains and
Lower Mississippi Valley, and the 40s along the western and central Gulf
Coast. These temperatures will spread to the East Coast for highs Monday,
just beyond the forecast period. Dangerously cold wind chills of 30-55
degrees below zero are expected across the Rockies, northern Plains, and
Upper Midwest Sunday and continuing into next week. This will pose a
life-threatening risk of hypothermia and frostbite to exposed skin. Wind
chills below zero will reach as far south as Oklahoma and the Tennessee
Valleys. Temperatures will remain near average west of the Rockies, with
30s and 40s for the Interior West/Pacific Northwest, the 50s and 60s in
California, and the 60s and 70s in the Desert Southwest.
To get your local forecast plus active alerts and warnings click HERE and enter your city, state or zip code. If the Hazards Outlook is not updated click here but remember it does not update during the weekend.
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. |
