A deep upper level low will drop into the western U.S. today, pushing a surface frontal system south across the region.
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The system is forecast to move across the Northwest and northern/central Rockies today and move into the Four Corners region and Southwest this weekend.
Widespread light to moderate snow is expected across the Intermountain West, and heavy snow may be possible in some of the higher elevations.
The upper low will become nearly stationary over the Southwest this weekend, causing a low pressure system to spin up along the California coast that will likely bring beneficial precipitation to southern California, which has been suffering from elevated wildfire conditions over the past few weeks.
Dry conditions and elevated wildfire conditions will persist before precipitation arrives on Saturday.
As low pressure strengthens, the pressure gradient across the West will tighten, resulting in elevated winds across much of the West on Saturday and Sunday.
Elsewhere, low pressure tracking across the northern tier will push a couple of relatively weaker cold fronts south across the Central U.S. while high pressure builds over the East.
The first front will drop south across the northern and central Plains today causing low pressure and high winds to develop in the lee of the Rockies.
The low will push into the southern Plains with the cold front on Saturday and approach the Gulf Coast on Sunday.
Moisture streaming ahead of the front will support showers and thunderstorms in the southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley Saturday night into Sunday.
A second cold front will drop into the northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Saturday, but dissipate over the Central Plains on Sunday.
These two systems will likely produce some snow showers across the northern tier of the nation through this weekend, and locally heavy lake effect snow will be possible downwind of the Great Lakes.
Temperatures will remain below average today and Saturday for most of the South and East.
Some of the most notable departures from average will be along the Gulf Coast to the Southeast where lows are forecast to be in the 20s and 30s and highs may only reach the 40s and lower 50s.
Daytime highs will likely help to melt snow cover from the recent historic winter storm, but liquid water from melted snow may refreeze overnight when temperatures drop below freezing.
Temperatures will gradually moderate through the weekend, trending closer to normal by early next week.
Below average temperatures are also expected in the West underneath the upper low, and highs could be 15-25 degrees below average in the Rockies over the weekend. ■
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