National Weather at 805pm February 9 2005

[Jeb]

Stormy weather for the Northeast and Southwest

8:08 P.M. ET 2/9/2005

 

James Wilson, Senior Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

 

 

Northeast

As colder air filters into the Northeast Thursday, a storm will intensify along the New England coast and then head up into the Canadian Maritimes. Rain will quickly move off the Mid-Atlantic coast, possibly ending as a little snow from New York City to Philadelphia to Atlantic City. Across southern New England, rain will change to snow from west to east. Interior sections (western and central Massachusetts) could pick up 4 to 8 inches of snow after the changeover and Boston may receive a quick 2 to 4 from mid-afternoon on. Cape Cod and islands that were the big winners during the blizzard may escape with only rain. The concern here would be localized flooding and watch the snow on the roof it could get heavy with the new rainfall and pose a structural issue for some. From out of Upstate New York, heavy snow will spread across the northern half of New England. Snowfall in eastern Upstate New York could reach 6 to 8 inches in spots. Across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, foot-plus snow totals are likely and some spots in central Maine could see 1 to near 2 feet by early Friday. The winds will turn strong and gusty Thursday across the Northeast. Gusts could reach 45 mph in eastern Massachusetts late in the day. Snow will also accumulate rapidly in West Virginia Thursday and some mountain locations could pick up between 4 and 10 inches.

 

West

While the Northwest (that needs the rain and especially the snow) remains quiet precipitation-wise, a storm developing offshore from Southern California and Baja is about to funnel moisture directly from the tropics into the Southwest. On Thursday, showers will begin to pop north of the Mexican border over southeast Arizona and southern New Mexico. Thursday night and Friday, the rain will turn locally heavy from the Los Angeles and San Diego basins, across central and southern Arizona into southwest New Mexico. Rainfall will be measured in inches across an area that already enjoys well-above-average winter precipitation totals. Flooding could become an issue. More modest showery rain and mountain snow will extend northward into the upper San Joaquin Valley, the Nevada Great Basin, Utah and the mountains of Colorado. The San Juan Mountains though could be a big snowfall winner with this storm. The rain and mountain snow will linger over the Four Corners' states on Saturday before shifting east and out of the region Sunday. The Pacific Northwest will turn showery over the weekend but amounts will again be on the light side.

 

South

Behind the cold front, strong north-to-northwest winds will bring much chillier air into the Southeast Thursday. The Smoky Mountains could pick up 3 to 6 inches of snow. A developing Southwest storm will bring some rain into Texas Friday while the remainder of the South enjoys a dry end of the workweek. Showers will continue to increase over the southern Plains Saturday and then gradually transition to areas east of the Mississippi River by Monday.

 

Midwest

Except for a few snow showers in the eastern Ohio Valley Thursday and over Michigan Friday, the Midwest will enjoy a break from rain and snow. Milder air will return. Temperatures will be above 10 to 15 degrees average in the northern Plains Thursday spreading into the northern Mississippi Valley Friday. Over the weekend, showers will spread into the central Plains Saturday and then over the Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on Sunday.