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 12, 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
Tue Mar 12 2024
Valid 12Z Tue Mar 12 2024 – 12Z Thu Mar 14 2024…One more day of unsettled weather across the Pacific Northwest and
northern California before the precipitation gradually tapers off on
Wednesday……Mountain snows spreading into the northern and central Rockies on
Wednesday before heavy snow develops over central Colorado Wednesday
night……Fire danger across the southern High Plains will be followed by chance
of severe thunderstorms across the north-central Plains later on Wednesday
as rain may change over to wet snow in the nearby High Plains……Anomalously warm temperatures to expand eastward from the Upper Midwest
into the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Wednesday…A gradual shift in the large-scale upper-level pattern across the U.S.
will bring unsettled weather that has been impacting the Pacific Northwest
in recent days progressively eastward into the central U.S. by Wednesday
night. The final in a series of Pacific fronts and low pressure systems
will push onshore into the West Coast today, bringing additional mountain
snow and lower-elevation rain with one to possibly two feet of new snow
along the Cascades. As the main upper trough presses eastward through the
western U.S. the next couple of days, areas along the West Coast will have
a chance to gradually dry out on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the main batch of
moisture will penetrate farther inland in the form of mountain snow
pushing into the northern to central Rockies on Wednesday. The upper
trough will also help develop a low pressure system over the central High
Plains on Wednesday. The interaction of the upper trough with the
intensifying low pressure system will begin to organize and focus an area
of moderate to heavy snow over central Colorado by early on Thursday. By
Thursday morning, snow could be falling in earnest over the mountainous
terrain into the Front Range and nearby High Plains of central Colorado.On the warm side of the low pressure system, low relative humidity and
gusty winds will continue to raise the danger of wildfires across central
to southern High Plains today, followed by a more southward focus from the
Texas Panhandle to western Texas on Wednesday. The dry environment in the
Plains states will initially limit the formation of showers and some
thunderstorms across the mid-Mississippi Valley into the Midwest today
into early on Wednesday. However, as the low intensifies, influx of
moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is forecast to organize an area of
enhanced rainfall over the vicinity of Nebraska Wednesday night as the
storm center passes just to the southeast. Some of the enhanced rainfall
could be accompanied with severe weather. In addition, there is a
possibility that the western portion of the enhanced rainfall would change
over to wet snow early on Thursday if additional cold air wraps around the
storm center.Across the eastern U.S., the departure of a strong surface low near Nova
Scotia into the western Atlantic will allow the gusty winds to moderate
further across the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today. Breezy
conditions are likely to remain for northern New England into Tuesday
night, but overall improvement is expected. High pressure over the
southern U.S. will slide eastward over the next couple of days, allowing
winds to return from the south, bringing warmer temperatures northward.
The greatest departures from normal highs will remain over the Upper
Midwest and Great Lakes region on Tuesday which may cause a few record
daily maximum temperatures to be broken, but the magnitude of the
anomalous warmth is likely to be lower on today compared to Monday. High
temperatures in the 60s to lower 70s will expand eastward through
Wednesday across the Ohio Valley and portions of the northern Mid-Atlantic
into the Northeast, roughly 15 to 25 degrees above mid-March averages.
With the warmer weather will come the threat for thunderstorms across
portions of the central U.S. Some severe thunderstorms will be possible
ahead of a dryline from eastern Oklahoma/Kansas into western Missouri on
Tuesday with a broader risk across some of these same areas on Wednesday.
Again, the prevailing dry environment will initially limit the intensity
of the storms.