Today Through the Fourth Friday (22 to 28 days) Weather Outlook for the U.S. and a Six-Day Forecast for the World: posted March 3, 2024
It is difficult to find a more comprehensive Weather Outlook anywhere else with the ability to get a local 10-day Forecast also.
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 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 but it is unlikely to have changed very much. The images in this article automatically update.
Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
315 AM EST Sun Mar 03 2024Valid 12Z Sun Mar 03 2024 – 12Z Tue Mar 05 2024
…Winter storm in the West producing powerful blizzard in the Sierra
Nevada begins to wane through the day Sunday; more snow expected to begin
Monday……Accumulating snowfall near the Canadian border across Montana and North
Dakota with a wintry mix from North Dakota to northern Minnesota……Another coastal storm is forecast to bring additional rain along the
Mid-Atlantic coast later on Monday...…Much above average, Spring-like temperatures shifting from the
Plains/Midwest into the Northeast as Critical Fire Weather threat persists
in the central/southern High Plains…Conditions in the West which has been impacted by widespread heavy
mountain snows, gusty winds, and a powerful blizzard in the Sierra should
begin to improve by Sunday morning as a moisture plume form the Pacific
weakens and the track of upper-level energies shifts northward. Winds will
wane in intensity, though some additional heavy snowfall is expected
through the day, particularly for the southern Cascades/Sierra, Wasatch,
and central Rockies. However, additional upper-level energies approaching
the West Coast Monday look to quickly bring back increasing precipitation
chances, including heavy snowfall, to the southern Cascades/northern
Sierra, and potentially inland across the northern Great Basin. Timing and
the location of the heaviest amounts remains a bit uncertain at this time,
but another influx of moisture from the Pacific is expected. Rain showers
and thunderstorms will persist along the coast of the Pacific Northwest
and northern California as a surface trough lingers along the coast. Some
locally heavy rainfall may occur Monday as the next system moves in,
particularly along southern Oregon into northern California.Upper-level energy shifting eastward away from the West is helping to
organize/deepen a low pressure/frontal system over the Northern Plains
this morning, which is forecast to track eastward towards the
Midwest/Great Lakes Monday. Moderate to locally heavy snowfall is expected
to the northwest of the surface low track as colder air spreads in from
the north, most likely along the Canadian border from eastern Montana into
western North Dakota. A wintry mix is expected to the east from eastern
North Dakota into northern Minnesota. The deepening low will also bring
some gusty winds, with the potential for blowing snow where snowfall does
occur. To the south and east across the Mississippi Valley/Midwest,
initially limited moisture will keep precipitation chances very low
through Monday morning despite the approaching frontal system. However,
southerly return flow from the Gulf will eventually begin to lead to
increasing shower and thunderstorm chances through the day Monday and
particularly Monday night. Deeper moisture over portions of the central
Gulf Coast into the Lower Mississippi Valley may result in some locally
heavy rainfall and an isolated instance or two of flash flooding. Some
severe thunderstorms producing large hail and damaging winds may also be
possible.Showers will end Sunday morning in New England as a coastal storm departs
the region east into the Atlantic. A quasi-stationary frontal boundary
lingering southwestward along the coast of the Southeast and into Florida
will keep storm chances up there through the day Sunday. Then, on Monday,
another coastal low is expected to organize along the Carolinas and begin
to move northward, bringing additional shower chances into the
Mid-Atlantic through Tuesday morning, especially for coastal areas.Widespread much above average, Spring-like high temperatures will persist
across the central/eastern U.S. Sunday and Monday. The greatest anomalies
of 25-35 degrees will stretch from the Lower/Middle Missouri Valley
northeastward into the Upper Great Lakes Sunday, shifting into the Ohio
Valley, Lower Great Lakes, and interior Northeast on Monday. Numerous
daily record-tying/breaking highs are possible as temperatures reach into
the 70s for most locations. Conditions will also be rather warm across the
central and southern Plains Sunday, with temperatures well into the 70s
and even low to mid-80s. Unfortunately, persistent lee troughing leading
to gusty winds and dry conditions will continue the threat for wildfires
along the central and southern High Plains, with a Critical Risk of Fire
Weather (level 2/3) outlined by the Storm Prediction Center. Along the
East Coast, highs are forecast to range between the 40s and 50s for New
England, 50s and 60s for the Mid-Atlantic, and 70s to low 80s for the
Southeast/Florida. In the West, highs will remain cooler and below
average, ranging from the 30s and 40s in the Pacific Northwest and much of
the Interior West, 50s in northern/central California, 60s in southern
California, and 60s and 70s into the Desert Southwest. The coldest spot in
the country will be in the Northern Rockies/adjacent High Plains, where
highs will be in the teens and 20s following a couple cold front passages.