National Weather at 255pm February 18 2005

[Jeb]

A piece of the Southwest storm races east

2:55 P.M. ET 2/18/2005

 

M. Ressler, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

 

 

West

Friday morning already brought between .5 and 2.25 inches of rain to Ventura and Orange Counties to kick off a stretch of rain that could last all the way to midweek. A part of the storm off the California coast will head inland tonight and Saturday to bring rain and snow to much of the central and eastern U.S. this President's Day weekend. Meanwhile, a new upper-level low will drop southward from British Columbia to keep the Pacific moisture focused on southern Oregon, California, the Nevada Great Basin, the Desert Southwest and the Rockies. Only northwest Oregon, Washington, northern Idaho, northern Montana and parts of the high Plains will escape precipitation this weekend. Snow above 6000 feet will be measured in feet from the Sierra and the mountains of southern Nevada to the Wasatch of Utah and the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Periods of rain will continue to add to the totals in California on Saturday. Heavy rain will shift to northern and central California Sunday and then back to Southern California Sunday night and Monday. Southern Nevada and parts of Arizona will also pick up substantial rain this weekend and in the coming week.

 

Northeast

The cold air is in place with temperatures 5 to 15 degrees below average (single digits and teens along the Canadian border to 40s in Virginia) over the weekend. In the meantime, a piece of the western storm will rapidly shoot eastward. Saturday will be quiet except for lingering snow showers over interior sections. On Sunday, some light snow could streak into the Mid-Atlantic well ahead of the storm. Sunday night and Monday could become quite interesting. One low will stall in the eastern Ohio Valley early Monday while a new low develops off the Delmarva heading due east. Cold air entrenched over the Northeast could linger east of the Appalachians as far south as western North Carolina. On Monday, accumulating snow from this early view will shift eastward across New York, north-central and northeast Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and most of New England except for central and northern Maine. Mixed precipitation (snow to sleet to freezing rain to rain along the coastal plain) could extend from south-central Pennsylvania to south Jersey and northern Delaware. South of the Mason-Dixon Line, freezing rain could be a problem west of the Chesapeake Bay across Maryland and the western and central portions of Virginia. Showery rain will cover remainder of the Mid-Atlantic. The storm will be over Tuesday. More cold air will filter into the region setting the stage for some snow in the Mid-Atlantic Wednesday into Thursday.

 

South

There is already some light rain in the southern Plains. By Sunday, a most concerted area of rain will sweep from the lower Mississippi Valley into the Southeast. Western North Carolina may even see a little freezing rain this weekend as the initially cold air holds just east of the Appalachians. This first surge of moisture over the weekend will set the stage for a wet upcoming week across the South. A steady stream of disturbances flowing out of the western storm along a strong jet stream will keep the region cloudy, showery and just plain dreary. Only the central and southern Florida Peninsula plus the Keys will completely escape the rain which is great for vacationers and spring training baseball teams.

 

Midwest

The cold air is in place from North Dakota to Michigan and the eastern Ohio Valley. As showery rain streaks into the central Mississippi Valley Saturday, parts of both South Dakota and Nebraska plus along the Iowa-Missouri line could see a little snow. Temperatures will be around 10 degrees below average in the Upper Midwest and highs Saturday will range from the teens along the Canadian border to the 50s and 60s in Kansas and the 30s and 40s in the Ohio Valley. The piece of the western storm to streak out of the Southwest will head from the lower Missouri Valley into the Ohio Valley by Sunday. Accumulating snow could quite possibly extend from northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, across the southern Great Lakes, into Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia during the second half of the weekend. Lighter snow will extend northward toward the Canadian border in the Upper Midwest. South of the snow, mixed precipitation (the changeover from snow or sleet to freezing rain and in some cases rain) will extend from central Iowa, across the middle Ohio Valley, into eastern Kentucky. Rain and showers will extend across the mid-Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys. Snow showers will linger round the Great Lakes Monday while a little light snow and rain lingers in the north-central Plains and lower Missouri Valley. Tuesday and Wednesday, another disturbance from out of the Southwest could produce another stripe of snow from the central Plains to the southern Great Lakes.