Weather Forecast: Tonight, Tomorrow, Next Day, Five Days, 10 Days for the U.S. with some maps for the World posted late January 4, 2023

Updated at 7:07 p.m. Thursday January 5, 2023

Here is what we are paying attention to in the next 48 to 72 hours from Thursday Afternoon’s NWS Forecast. This article also includes World weather forecasts.

We start with the U.S. Information.

Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
243 PM EST Thu Jan 05 2023

Valid 00Z Fri Jan 06 2023 - 00Z Sun Jan 08 2023

...Next round of excessive rainfall to enter northern California late
Friday before gradually expanding southward this weekend...

...Heavy snow possible across parts of the Intermountain West and central
Rockies through the end of the week...

...Light snow continues throughout parts of the Great Lakes and New
England...

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

Daily weather maps

THURSDAY AFTERNOON, EVENING, AND OVERNIGHT

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

I try to keep the above maps updated. They only update twice a day and in some cases 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.

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.

California continues to take the brunt of the impactful weather today over
the Lower 48 and is expected to continue experiencing waves of heavy
precipitation and strong winds into the first full weekend of 2023.
Moderate rainfall and high elevation snow is anticipated to diminish
across the Golden State tonight as the current atmospheric river comes to
an end. Winter Storm Warnings remain in effect across the Sierra Nevada
and Flood Watches remain over both central and coastal regions of
California into early Friday. As the overall wet pattern remains locked in
place over the West Coast, the next surge of moisture to move inland is
forecast to enter northern California and southwest Oregon late Friday.
Rainfall could become hazardous and lead to scattered instances of flash
flooding over the coastal ranges of northern California. The consistent
stream of moisture being funneled out of the tropical Pacific will
continue into Saturday and gradually expand into more central portions of
the state. Additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches, with locally
higher totals are possible and could exacerbate flooding concerns
throughout what has become a very saturated region. Additionally, the high
elevations of the Sierra Nevada and northern California will experience
more rounds of heavy snow as moisture reaches eastward, with the heavier
snowfall rates forecast to remain over the northern California mountains
on Saturday and eventually spread southward by Sunday.

The remaining moisture that is able to progress eastward into the
Intermountain West tonight will likely lead to heavy mountain snow into
the Utah high elevations. Snow totals up to 18 inches are possible and
will make travel treacherous at times. Snow is forecast to linger through
early Friday before spreading into the central Rockies.

Farther east, an upper-level low over the Great Lakes continues to produce
light snow showers over the Great Lakes while a cold front extends off the
East Coast and a developing weak wave of low pressure pushes from the
Mid-Atlantic to southern New England early Friday. This wave of low
pressure may lead to an enhancement of precipitation that falls in the
form of snow throughout New England for the Friday morning commute. Roads
could become slippery, especially where heavier snowfall rates occur.

Elsewhere, a wave of low pressure pushing into the mid-Mississippi Valley
early Saturday (along with an attached cold front) will likely spawn an
area of showers and thunderstorms extending southward into eastern Texas.
Light snow, sleet, and freezing rain are possible over Ohio Valley to the
north of a lifting warm front, but limited impacts are currently expected.


Snell

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