Today Through the Fourth Friday (22 to 28 days) Weather Outlook for the U.S. and a Six-Day Forecast for the World: posted April 8, 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
Mon Apr 08 2024
Valid 12Z Mon Apr 08 2024 – 12Z Wed Apr 10 2024…Northern New England remains the best location for clear viewing of the
total solar eclipse this afternoon……Lingering wet snow across the Northern Plains expected to taper off
later today while locally moderate rain moves across the Upper Midwest……Heavy rain, flash flooding and severe weather threat emerging across
the Southern Plains to the lower Mississippi Valley on Tuesday……Critical fire danger shifts southward into western Texas by Tuesday…
As the long-anticipated total solar eclipse scheduled to take place this
afternoon, the weather pattern across the U.S. is entering a transition
period from one that consists of a winter storm across the North to heavy
rain and severe thunderstorms across the South. The low pressure system
that has brought snow, high winds, and severe weather to various locations
across the northern and central U.S. will continue to weaken and track
northeast across the upper Midwest today, and then move into southern
Canada on Tuesday. Lingering wet snow across the Northern Plains is
expected to taper off later today while locally moderate rain moves across
the Upper Midwest.Monday morning will feature showers and embedded thunderstorms across the
Great Lakes down into the Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley and the lower
Mississippi Valley well in advance of the low pressure system and near the
trailing cold front. Meanwhile, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is
beginning to return to the western Gulf states. Southern Texas will
likely wake up to fair conditions this morning but will likely followed by
a rapid untimely increase of clouds this morning into the afternoon prior
to the arrival of the solar eclipse. In contrast, northern New England
remains to be the region where cloud cover will likely be minimized along
the path of totality this afternoon as the nor’easter moves farther out
into the Atlantic. It appears that other locations in between will have a
fair chance of cloud covers at various levels, although locations across
the Midwest could see breaks in the clouds or high thin clouds during the
time of totality.Monday night into Tuesday will likely see the threat of heavy rain
blossoming across the South from eastern Texas/eastern Oklahoma expanding
eastward into the lower Mississippi Valley in response to a potent upper
trough approaching from the southern Rockies that will interact with the
influx of Gulf moisture. A few inches of rain will likely be common from
northern Louisiana into southern Arkansas through Wednesday morning with
this setup. In addition, severe thunderstorms are also expected to
develop within the heavy rain area from Tuesday morning onward into
Wednesday morning when a low pressure system is forecast to develop over
Texas. The heaviest rains and severe storms should begin to head farther
east by Wednesday morning into the Mid-South as the low pressure system
intensifies and tracks toward the east-northeast.Meanwhile, moisture from the next Pacific system is forecast to bring the
next round of precipitation into the Pacific Northwest by later today and
spread into the northern Rockies on Tuesday. Much of the Southwest into
the Four Corners will remain dry with some gusty winds as a dry cold front
passes through. As for fire weather, it appears that the area of Critical
Risk of Fire Weather will be confined to western Texas per the Storm
Prediction center.Forecast high temperatures will tend to be at or above average and mild to
warm over much of the central/eastern U.S. today ahead of the system over
the Midwest/Plains. The greatest anomalies will be in the lower Great
Lakes vicinity, where temperatures into the 60s and 70s are upwards of
15-20 degrees above normal. The frontal boundary sagging southward and
increasing coverage of precipitation chances will bring cooler
temperatures from the Tennessee Valley west through the ArkLaTex and into
portions of the Southern Plains/Rockies Tuesday. Temperatures are forecast
to warm up by 10-15 degrees over the Northern Plains Tuesday following one
more chilly day on Monday. An expanding area of warm, above average
temperatures will spread inland from California into the Great Basin
Tuesday as an upper-level ridge builds in.