With the departure of the low pressure system further away into southeastern Canada, a relatively quiet weather pattern is expected to prevail across the eastern two-thirds of the country under the influence of a cool and stable high pressure system.
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The most active weather will be found along the West Coast where a low pressure system is forecast to stay not too far offshore while moving very slowly to the south through the next few days.
Rain will be the primary precipitation type associated with this system except wet snow expected over the higher elevations along the Sierra Nevada.
The heaviest rainfall is expected to impact areas near the coast of California from north to south as the system dips generally southward.
Rainfall amounts are forecast to be 1 to 2 inches with locally higher amounts near the coast of northern to central California tonight into Wednesday before shifting southward into the coastal sections of southern California, where a higher chance of heavy rain with locally a few inches of rainfall totals possible on Thursday.
Flash flooding may become an issue given these forecast rainfall amounts.
Meanwhile, the rain/high elevation snow initially associated with a weakening system across the Pacific Northwest is expected to taper off tonight as the system dissipates.
By Thursday, moisture returning from the Gulf of Mexico behind the eastward-sliding high pressure system in conjunction with an upper-level shortwave exiting the southern Rockies will increase the chance of showers and embedded thunderstorms to develop and expand from the southern Plains toward the mid-Mississippi Valley south of a stationary front and east of a lee-side trough.
Lake-effect snow showers near the lower Great Lakes are expected to gradually taper off tonight.
The eastern and southeastern quadrant of the country will be cooler than normal through Thursday under the cool high pressure system.
However, milder than normal temperatures over the remainder of the country will begin to expand eastward with time and gradually shrink the cool air and confine them to the vicinity of Florida by Thursday. ■
A clipper system will move quickly across the northern Plains into the Midwest Friday and the Northeast by Saturday, bringing a wintry mix of rain and snow showers ahead of a sweeping cold front.