Powerful storm system will affect the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Northeast through today.
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Severe weather threat across the Ohio Valley and heavy snow for the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and into the Northeast. Strong winds and dry weather raise fire weather risks across the Central-Southern Plains. For the west coast and southern Alaska, cold temperatures, gusty winds and heavy snow expected. Read More >
A busy weather pattern is expected to continue through midweek with impacts throughout many different regions of the country.
Starting off in the Northeast, a system lifting through the Great Lakes this afternoon is forecast to spread wintry precipiation into the Northeast and southern New England tonight before further spreading into northern New England on Tuesday.
Cold air is forecast to remain locked in place across this region as a secondary low pressure system forms off the Mid-Atlantic coastline early Tuesday and slides eastward.
Snowfall totals are generally expected to add up to around 4-8" throughout New England and the Interior Northeast.
Higher amounts are possible across the more highly elevated mountainous regions.
Otherwise, New York City will be on the southern edge of the heaviest snowfall and could mix with sleet at times, limiting snowfall amounts to the 2-6" range, but still likely the biggest snowstorm of the season.
Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories are in effect from central PA (where light freezing rain is also possible) through coastal Maine.
For the West Coast, the cold and wintry pattern continues with two more rounds of heavy snow forecast to enter the Sierra Nevada and northern California over the next few days.
Additional snowfall of 4-7 feet are expected along the Sierra, with snowfall rates in excess of 2" per hour.
Combined with strong wind gusts up to 60 mph, blizzard conditions are also anticipated through at least early Wednesday.
Travel will become very dangerous to impossible at times through the Sierra mountain passes.
Heavy mountain snow will also spread across the Intermountain West, Southwest, and central/southern Rockies during this time period.
Snowfall amounts over a foot are likely throughout the higher mountain ranges, which will lead to potentially hazardous weather in these regions as well.
The final area of potentially impactful winter weather is forecast to occur between the Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning hours across the northern Plains along a narrow swath of moderate to locally heavy snow.
A low pressure system swinging from the northern Rockies to the Dakotas will work in tandem with a draped stationary front and cold airmass to create the possibility of heavy snow.
The heaviest amounts are currently forecast along the North Dakota-South Dakota border, which could locally reach up to 8 inches.
By Wednesday, a strong storm system is forecast to begin ejecting out of the Southwest while moisture surges out of the Gulf of Mexico toward a lingering frontal boundary over the Mid-South.
This will create an environment conducive for heavy rainfall across the Tennessee Valley.
A few scattered flash floods are possible where the heaviest rain rates occur, especially over much of Tennessee.
The temperature outlook through the first day of March will feature springlike warmth from the southern Plains and Gulf Coast through the Lower Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic.
Highs into the 60s and 70s are likely, with 80s for the Gulf Coast States.
This is also likely to break numerous daily high temperature records, especially on Wednesday.
Conversely, the West is likely to experience much colder weather, with temperatures as low as 30 degrees below average.
Many of the daily record low temperatures forecast extend from western Oregon to much of California. ■