Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
Mon Mar 11 2024
Valid 12Z Mon Mar 11 2024 – 12Z Wed Mar 13 2024
…Heavy wet snow will continue into the morning hours on Monday across
the higher elevations of the northern New England and portions of the
lower Great Lakes…
…Unsettled weather is expected to persist across the Pacific Northwest
and into the northern Rockies with multiple rounds of lower-elevation rain
and higher elevation snow…
…Fire danger to increase across the central and southern High Plains
from very dry conditions, gusty winds, and warm temperatures…
A deep low pressure system centered over Downeast Maine early this morning
will be slow to move away into the Canadian Maritimes. The ongoing heavy
wet snow associated with this system is expected to linger across the
higher terrain from the Adirondacks of New York, up across the Green and
White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire respectively. Meanwhile, the
cold air pouring southeast over the lower Great Lakes will sustain heavy
lake-effect snow shower activity with squalls locally across upstate New
York into the morning of today before they gradually taper off during the
afternoon. The snow will likely taper off to snow showers and flurries by
tonight across northern Maine. Nevertheless, the strong and gusty winds
are expected to persist into Tuesday as the large circulation of the low
pressure system will take time to depart.
In the wake of the low pressure system, a large dome of high pressure will
build across the South and into the Southeast while taking its time to
slide off into the Atlantic. Temperatures over the next couple of days
will be well above normal especially across the central and northern
Plains and the Midwest before gradually advancing into the Great Lakes and
Ohio Valley. The return of dry weather coupled with increasingly gusty
winds and low relative humidity will promote an increased risk of
wildfires. In fact, the Storm Prediction Center has highlighted large
areas of the central and southern High Plains in an elevated to critical
fire danger area. This will include the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma
where devastating fires occurred a couple weeks ago.
Meanwhile across the Pacific Northwest, multiple low pressure systems
arriving from the Pacific will bring frequent rounds of precipitation
onshore and then farther inland into the northern Rockies through the next
couple of days. Moderate to locally heavy rain is expected for the coastal
ranges with heavy snow over the higher elevations of the Cascades,
northern Sierra Nevada, and the Sawtooth, Bitterroot, and Teton ranges of
the northern Rockies. The Cascades will likely receive the heaviest
snowfall totals where as much as 1 to 2 feet of new snow can be expected.
Temperatures are expected to begin rebounding rather quickly for much of
the East and the South by later Tuesday as milder air from the Plains and
Midwest advances east together with warm air beginning to return north
from the Gulf of Mexico. High temperatures across portions of eastern
South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin are forecast to be as much as
30 to 40 degrees above normal on today and Tuesday with temperatures
approaching or locally exceeding 70 degrees. Some cities will likely be
warm enough to see their daily high temperature records either tied or
broken today.
Meanwhile, a cooling trend is expected across the western U.S. as colder
air associated with an upper trough pushes inland to bring moderate to
locally heavy mountain snow into the central Rockies by early Wednesday
while the West Coast begins to dry out. Farther east, a low pressure
system is forecast to develop over the central to southern High Plains
Tuesday night. The dry environment in the vicinity will initially limit
the formation of showers and some thunderstorms across the mid-Mississippi
Valley into the Midwest early on Wednesday. Some light snow could brush
the northern Plains near Canadian border early Wednesday ahead of a
clipper system.