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
Wed Jan 29 2025
Valid 12Z Wed Jan 29 2025 – 12Z Fri Jan 31 2025…Heavy rain, severe weather, and flash flooding possible from the
Southern Plains to to the Mid/Lower Mississippi Valley……Heavy snow and snow squalls possible in the Great Lakes and Northeast
today……Atmospheric river to bring heavy rain and mountain snow to the Pacific
Northwest and northern California late this week into the weekend…A strong but slow moving low pressure system will push across the
southern/central Plains and into the Mississippi Valley on Thursday. Warm,
moist air from the Gulf will stream into the south-Central U.S. ahead of
the system and provide support for widespread showers and thunderstorms.
Heavy rainfall in expected over the southern Plains today and from eastern
Texas through the Mid/Lower Mississippi Valley on Thursday. Isolated to
scattered instances of flash flooding will be possible, especially in
urban and poor drainage areas and areas that experience training/repeat
convection. Conditions will also be favorable for isolated strong to
severe thunderstorms from Central Texas east through the Lower Mississippi
Valley today and Thursday. On the backside of the low pressure system,
colder air will allow for wintry weather over portions of the Four Corners
states, and locally heavy snow will be possible in the higher terrain of
northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. This low pressure system will
track northeast into the Midwest on Friday, and precipitation chances will
spread towards the East Coast and Northeast.To the north, a couple of lows will swing across southern Canada and clip
the northern Great Lakes and Northeast, producing chances for wintry
weather. The first low will pass over the Northeast today, pushing a
potent cold front south across the Great Lakes and Northeast. Snow squalls
will be possible today for portions of the eastern Great Lakes, Northeast,
and even into the northern Mid-Atlantic as the front drops south. Snow
squalls may cause intense bursts of heavy snow with gusty winds, resulting
in periods of low visibility and dangerous driving conditions.
Accumulating snow is expected from the eastern Great Lakes through
interior New England, with the heaviest snow likely downwind of Lakes
Ontario and Erie and in the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont. These
regions can expect a brief break from wintry weather on Thursday as a warm
front lifts north, then more wintry weather will be possible on Friday as
the second low moves across the Great Lakes.Mainly dry weather is expected in the West with high pressure dominating
the weather pattern through Thursday. On Friday, high pressure will be
shunted east as a low pressure system approaches the West Coast. This
system will aim a stream of Pacific moisture (atmospheric river) at the
coast, focusing initially on the Pacific Northwest on Friday then shifting
south into northern California on Saturday. Widespread heavy rain and
mountain snow are expected, and flooding concerns will be heightened along
the coast.The weather pattern will favor well above normal temperatures through the
end of the work week for much of the Central and Eastern U.S., except for
the Northeast where below normal temperatures are expected through
Thursday after a cold front passes through. High temperatures are expected
to be 10 to 20+ degrees above normal, with the greatest anomalies over the
northern/central Plains and Upper Midwest where a handful of daily high
temperature records will be possible on Thursday. Below normal
temperatures will likely linger from southern California through the
Southwest through Thursday, then return to near normal on Friday.
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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14 |
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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. |
