Nat'l Weather (230pm) October 21 2004

[Jeb]

Storm heads east

2:30 P.M. ET 10/21/2004

 

M. Ressler, Senior Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

 

 

 

West

The deep upper-air storm system will trek northeastward from Southern California and northern Baja, through the Four Corners' states and into the Plains by Friday afternoon. The rain and mountain snow will shift from Utah and Arizona into Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico before coming to an end by Friday night. The heavy snowfall over the Wasatch will shift into the Colorado Rockies where, as snow levels drop to 7500 feet, elevations above 8000 feet could pick up between 1 and 2 feet of the white stuff. Gusty winds will cause drifting. Rainfall will range from .5 to 1.5 inches over the lower elevations of the Four Corners’ region. Scattered rain and mountain snow showers will linger across Idaho and Montana into Friday morning. Temperatures will remain 5 to 10 degrees below average across the region to end the workweek and for most of the West right through the weekend and into next week. Right on the heels of the big storm, a new Pacific cold front will enter Washington and Oregon Friday with a new round of rain and mountain snow. While the northern showery portion of the front zips eastward across the northern Rockies and northern high Plains Saturday, the southern portion will stall from northern California to northern Colorado by Sunday. The next potent storm will hit the West Coast later Monday and Tuesday.

 

Midwest

While Michigan and the Ohio Valley could see some locally dense fog Friday morning, the Plains and Mississippi valley will turn very active as a deepening low pressure area and strong cold front take aim on the Midwest. Gusty southerly winds will cause a warm front, Gulf moisture and above average temperatures to surge northward through the Mississippi Valley toward the Canadian border. Severe thunderstorms will likely develop from Minnesota and Wisconsin to eastern Kansas and Missouri. Damaging wind gusts will be the greatest threat, but some tornadoes and hail are also possible. As the cold front shifts eastward Saturday, Lower Michigan and the Ohio Valley could see some strong-to-severe thunderstorms. The front will exit the eastern Ohio Valley by Sunday. Immediately behind it, a new front will race across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest Sunday with a few showers. A new western storm could begin to affect the Midwest later Tuesday into Wednesday with more thunderstorms.

 

South

More record and near-record heat is expected in eastern and southern Texas Friday. With temperatures in the low to middle 90s and persistent humid conditions, locations including Houston will again see dangerous heat indices near 100 degrees. From Arkansas and the western two-thirds of Tennessee to the northern Gulf Coast, highs will be 5 to 15 degrees above average on Friday with temperatures in places like Little Rock and Memphis approaching record levels. Elsewhere in the South, highs will be near to only slightly above seasonal averages through the end of the workweek. Overall, highs are forecast to range from the 60s in northern North Carolina to the 90s in eastern and southern Texas. After another foggy start from the lower Mississippi Valley eastward, Friday will turn active west of the Mississippi. Strong-to-severe thunderstorms will be on the increase over the southern Plains ahead of a cold front. Thunderstorms will rapidly shift eastward Saturday, extending from the Tennessee Valley to southern Texas. A few thunderstorms will dot the Deep South Sunday as the front stalls from the southern Appalachians to the Texas-Oklahoma Red River Valley.

 

Northeast

Clouds will again dominate the Northeast Friday morning, but the sun will fight to break through at least in spots later in the day. Daytime temperatures (3 to 8 degrees below average) will range from the 40s in northern Maine to the 60s in the Virginias. Already by Saturday night, showers to be encroaching from the west, reaching western New England by late Sunday. The once strong cold front will weaken as it moves from the Midwest into the region late in the weekend.