Today Through the Fourth Friday (22 to 28 days) Weather Outlook for the U.S. and a Six-Day Forecast for the World: posted May 22, 2024
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
Wed May 22 2024
Valid 12Z Wed May 22 2024 – 12Z Fri May 24 2024…Deep storm begins to move away from the upper Midwest/Great Lakes today
as the next heavy rain and severe weather threats emerge across the
southern Plains toward the lower to mid-Mississippi Valley tonight……Heavy wet snow expected to overspread the higher elevations of the
northern Rockies tonight into Thursday...…Another rapidly developing low pressure system will bring severe
weather and heavy rain threats into the Thursday night into Friday
morning…An active weather pattern continues from the western U.S. to the Great
Plains where unsettled and changeable weather can be expected for at least
the next couple of days. Residents across the upper Midwest into the
upper Great Lakes will wake up this morning with a rapidly intensifying
low-pressure system passing through. Much of the heavy rain and embedded
thunderstorms associated with the system are already moving into southern
Canada as the storm center continues to take a north-northeasterly track
across the western end of Lake Superior and heading quickly toward
southern Canada. Blustery winds behind the departing storm will take
extra time to subside today across the upper Midwest and the Great Lakes.
As the heavy rain and thunderstorms associated with the deep storm exit
the upper Midwest, the southern Plains will need to watch for an emerging
threat of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms where the trailing front
from the deep storm becomes nearly stationary. The most active weather
can be expected tonight as well as Thursday night from the southern Plains
toward the lower Mississippi Valley, with a lull in the activities
Thursday morning.Meanwhile, the next energetic upper low, which had a history of diving
southeast from Alaska, is getting ready to reach the Pacific Northwest.
The system will bring a round of widespread precipitation through the
Northwest, with heavy wet snow falling across the higher elevations of
Idaho, western Montana, and into Wyoming for tonight and into Thursday.
The system will also usher a cold air mass through the Northwest by
Thursday, reaching into the northern Plains by Friday morning. Windy
conditions are also expected to overspread the entire area, especially
immediately behind a sharp cold front.Elsewhere, relatively quiet weather is expected across the Southwest.
Meanwhile, very warm to hot weather is expected across much of the eastern
U.S. today before showers and thunderstorms quickly move into the interior
sections later today. The Mid-Atlantic states will see these showers and
embedded thunderstorms move in tonight and linger into Thursday as the
front becomes nearly stationary across the region. Additional moisture
from the South is forecast to ride along the front, bringing rounds of
showers and thunderstorms from the Mid-South to the Mid-Atlantic into
Friday morning.Across southern Texas, the heat is forecast to gradually intensify through
the next few days, with heat indices possibly topping 110 degrees by
Thursday afternoon. Residents across southern Florida will also feel the
heat getting more oppressive as the week progresses due to gradually
increasing humidity under the influence of a high pressure ridge with fair
weather conditions.