National Weather at 210pm February 12 2005

[Jeb]

Eastern half turns rainy

2:11 P.M. ET 2/12/2005

 

R. Hulecki, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

 

 

West

The Southwest Soaker is forecast to move out of the Desert Southwest and into the central Great Plains by Sunday bringing mostly or partly sunny skies to the region. After 2 days of drenching rain and high alpine snow, a stretch of dry days will allow rivers and arroyos to recede before the next round of showers come onshore by the middle of next week. Afternoon highs will range from the low 70s in Arizona to the mid 60s in Southern California with highs in the 30s in the mountains. A storm system will bring rain and snow showers to the parched Northwest overnight Saturday and will lingering into Monday. Snow levels will run around 1000 feet Saturday night rising to 1500 feet on Sunday with only light amounts of accumulation expected in the Cascade Range and in the Olympics. Sunday’s afternoon highs in Seattle and Portland will run a few degrees below average with temperatures in the low to mid 40s.

 

Midwest

The Midwest will have a rainy Sunday as a large Pacific storm system ejects out of the Four Corners Saturday night. Rain will spread north from Kansas to the Arrowhead of Minnesota and east toward the Ohio River Valley by Sunday night. With warm southerly winds stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Canadian Prairies precipitation will fall in the form of rain. Some cold air will mix with the storm system on Monday around Michigan which may produce some snow showers from the Minnesota Boundary Waters to the U.P. of Michigan on Valentine’s Day. Sunday morning lows will run about 15 to 25 degrees above average from the central plains to the Upper Midwest. The low in Minneapolis on Sunday morning is forecast to be near 30 degrees which is what the high should be this time of the year. Sunday high temperatures in the plains and Midwest will run 5 to 20 degrees above average but will feel cold with the low clouds and rain. Look for a cold front to move into the northern plains during the early part of the week, this front will drop temperatures back to typical February levels.

 

South

As the Pacific storm system progresses toward the northeast on Sunday, rain and some embedded thunderstorms will spread into the Southeast. Moderate to heavy rain will move across parts of the deep South on Sunday with some localized flooding possible in urban areas. Showers and a few thunderstorms are in the forecast from the Florida Panhandle to Jacksonville on Sunday and Monday but will not extend south of Orlando. Rain amounts are forecast to be near 1” along the Florida Panhandle which will bring some relief to the parched region but more rain is needed. With low clouds and rain Sunday afternoon highs will only reach into the 50s from central Alabama to the Carolinas. Where the sun comes out in south Texas and south Florida, look for Sunday’s highs to reach into the 70s to near 80. Valentine’s Day is forecast to be rainy from the Florida Panhandle to the Mason Dixon Line with highs in the 40s in the central Appalachians to the 70s in Florida. A see-saw of temperatures will be the pattern in the South this upcoming week.

 

Northeast

Northwest winds, well above the surface of the earth, are ushering in a disturbance dropping south from Hudson Bay. This disturbance brought lake effect snow off of Lake Ontario on Saturday and snow showers and flurries to the rest of the Northeast region. Gusty northwesterly winds last through the Sunday morning as the Canadian disturbances moves over Southern New England and off the coast by midday on Sunday. Behind this system a cold high pressure will build into the region keeping temperatures in the 30s from Long Island to Cape Cod, with the 20s from Down East Maine to the Finger Lakes region in New York, with the teens along the US/Canadian border. The Pacific storm system is forecast to move into the Northeast region Sunday night making for a dreary day on Valentine’s Day. With cold air firmly in place across the Northeast there is a chance of icy conditions as the Pacific moisture falls into a cold airmass across portions of Pennsylvania, Upstate New York and Northern New England early on Monday.