Drier This Week With Several Clippers

In the Midwest, a winter storm laid down a heavy band of snow across the southern half of the region over the weekend and lake-effect snow continued as well. A pair of clippers will bring through some light snow and cold air will keep the lake-effect going throughout the week. Both will have their greatest impact over the Great Lakes.

In the Northern Plains, some isolated snow moved through over the weekend, but most areas stayed dry. A couple of clippers will move through but with little snowfall. However, warmer air moving in later this week could cause a band of moderate snow across eastern Montana and the western Dakotas Wednesday night through Friday, which may have greater amounts. Another clipper will spread the warmer air through the rest of the region this weekend and could create some mixed precipitation.

In the Central and Southern Plains, a major winter storm system brought widespread ice and snow over the weekend and will take a long time to melt with cold air lingering this week. Though a couple of clippers will move through this week, very little precipitation is expected. Some more organized snow may develop in the northwest late this week as warmer air begins to move in.

In the Delta, a major winter storm brought a widespread mix of heavy precipitation over the weekend. It was mostly snow north and rain and freezing rain south with a mix of conditions in between. It will take a while to melt with cold air in the region, but will eventually lead to higher water levels on the local rivers. Ice jams may cause flooding with the cold air this week, however.

In the Southeast, a major winter storm brought a mix of precipitation through the region this weekend, including some heavy freezing rain and snow across the north. This week will be drier, but a system could form near the region Friday night and Saturday and could lead to some mixed precipitation in the Carolinas.

In the Western U.S., a system brought scattered showers to the Four Corners area this weekend as a major winter storm moved through. The southern half of the region will be drier this week and some areas in the Southwest will likely trend toward increasing drought yet again. A few systems may bring some occasional showers to the Pacific Northwest later this week, but the trends are for most of the precipitation to fall in the Coastal Mountains and Washington. Some drier conditions in other parts of the region could lead to increasing drought again as well.

John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com