Clippers and a Big Winter Storm This Week
A couple of clipper systems will bring some northern snow for the first half of the week. A major winter storm will move through the southern half of the country this weekend.
In the Midwest, clippers have been bringing bouts of snow over the weekend and continue through Thursday. Cold air moving over the Great Lakes will produce some significant lake-effect as well. A stronger cold front will move through Thursday and Friday. While it may not produce much precipitation for the Midwest, it will set up a significant storm system across the South, which may bring some snow to the southern Midwest this weekend.
In the Northern Plains, clippers moved through the region with areas of light snow over the weekend. A couple more will produce some light snow through Wednesday. Overall, it continues to be drier, and the lack of a significant snowpack could be concerning if that doesn’t change over the rest of winter.
In the Central and Southern Plains, it was largely dry over the weekend. Clipper systems will miss off to the northeast this week, but a major cold front will move through on Friday. Though there will be little precipitation associated with the front, it will setup a major winter storm system for Friday through the weekend. A mix of rain, freezing rain, and snow will occur and amounts will be heavy. Major ice and snow accumulations are in the forecast and will cause all kinds of havoc for the region. It will improve soil moisture though as well.
In the Delta, it was dry over the weekend. Some showers will be possible through Thursday, but most areas are likely to stay dry. However, a major cold front will sag into the region on Friday and setup a long-duration winter storm system for the weekend that should mean heavy amounts of rain, freezing rain, and snow. While that will help to improve soil moisture and drought, it will also cause all sorts of infrastructure problems to deal with. Ice jams on local rivers could be an issue next week because of some intense cold air as well.
In the Southeast, a front brought much-needed rainfall to the east over the weekend, but included a little bit of snow from the Florida Panhandle into South Carolina as well. That should have improved soil moisture at least a little bit. Very little precipitation is forecast early this week, but a significant front moving through on Friday will setup a major winter storm this weekend that should bring a mix of heavy rain, freezing rain, and snow. In addition to improving soil moisture and drought, the storm should cause major problems with infrastructure and be followed by some very cold air into early next week.
In the Western U.S., it was dry over the weekend. A storm system will move through the Southwest late Thursday into Saturday, but precipitation is expected to be limited outside of New Mexico. The recent turn to drier conditions is somewhat concerning for building drought in the region, particularly in the Southwest. The Northwest may get more active next week.
John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com
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