Big System Moving Through West Later This Week
It is quieter across the U.S. for much of the week. But a system moving into the West later this week will bring widespread precipitation and be the start of a more-active weather pattern.
In the Midwest, a clipper moved through over the weekend and brought some areas of moderate to heavy precipitation. Cold air that followed it is causing heavy lake-effect snow that will end on Monday night. Another clipper moving through Canada may bring some lighter showers to the region for Tuesday and Wednesday, but drier conditions will likely develop until a system moves in over the weekend.
In the Northern Plains, a clipper moved through late last week with some areas of accumulating snow and cold air. Although warmer air will rush into the region early this week, it will not come with showers to any significant degree. A system that moves through on Friday and Saturday could bring some showers, but models are forecasting only light amounts right now.
In the Central and Southern Plains, Nebraska was clipped by a clipper on Saturday, but most of the region stayed dry over the weekend. Drier conditions will continue this week as well. A system may start to bring some showers into the region late on Friday, but will be much more widespread for the weekend. Some areas of heavy rain will be possible as models figure out how this system will develop.
In the Delta, despite a pair of fronts moving through, very little rain fell in the region over the weekend. Drier conditions continue this week as water levels continue to fall and be low on the Mississippi River. A system is likely to move through this weekend with more widespread and perhaps heavier rainfall.
In the Southeast, a pair of fronts produced some areas of showers, but not enough to significantly impact the drought that has been building toward the Gulf. Drier conditions continue this week as well and we will have to wait until a system moves through this weekend into next week for chances at widespread showers to move through. Models are trying to figure out how much rain to produce though, as it is a bit complicated. Any rainfall would be helpful for those areas in drought.
In the Western U.S., it was dry over the weekend. The first half of the week will also be dry, but a trough moving into the region will start a pattern change on Wednesday and Thursday. A couple of rounds of precipitation will spread across the region for the second half of the week and systems are likely to move through every so often afterward. The increasing precipitation chances should help to build snowpack in the mountains and reduce drought in the valleys to some degree.
John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com
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