National Weather at 255pm November 19 2004

[Jeb]

Storm brewing in the West

2:55 P.M. ET 11/19/2004

 

R. Hulecki, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

 

 

West

The weekend is shaping up to be cold and snowy for the Four Corners. A high-pressure system will build into Colorado on Saturday bringing cold Canadian air down into the Front Range. Temperatures will fall 20-30 degrees overnight and hold steady in the low to mid 20s from eastern Wyoming to eastern Colorado on Saturday. Winds along the Front Range of Colorado will be from the east-northeast which is a favorable direction for up-slope snow in Denver and Colorado Springs. The building high pressure will also help increase the offshore wind in California on Saturday. Fog will be less of a problem in the Golden State on Saturday with the atmosphere well mixed due to the winds. Winds in Southern California will also kick up on Saturday night and Sunday through the canyons and passes that are favorable for Santa Ana winds. Late on Saturday a second more potent upper-level storm will swing into the Four Corners. This storm will bring heavier amounts of snow to the Four Corners and will become one of the main weather makers for the holiday week.

 

Northeast

More clouds, more rain, and colder temperatures are what folks in New England can look forward to on Saturday and Sunday. Farther south in Pennsylvania and New York the temperatures will remain just above average with highs in the upper 40s and upper 50s on Saturday. Clouds will rule the day on Saturday across much of the Northeast as moisture streams out of the south and mixes with a cold front. Sunday is forecast to remain cloudy with showers lingering in New England with some light snow in Maine. Showers could also creep into the Del-Mar-Va region on Sunday as weak disturbances shuffle through the upper levels of the atmosphere. Some warming will occur east of the Appalachians on Sunday with highs in the upper 50s to mid 60s. By Monday some breaks in the clouds will occur across the Northeast.

 

South

This weekend the South will be under the influence of a strong jetstream that is bringing moisture off of the Pacific Ocean through the South. In this southwesterly flow regime clouds, showers, and mild humid temperatures will predominate. There are several embedded weather disturbances within the jetstream that will help enhance thunderstorms and isolated heavy rain chances from Texas to Georgia this weekend. There is also a chance of isolated severe thunderstorms in the deep South on Saturday and Sunday. Texas will have a dichotomy of weather this weekend. Southern sections are forecast to experience warm humid conditions and a chance of thunderstorms whereas the Panhandle will experience a cold rain and even some light snow.

 

Midwest

The Great Lakes will remain socked in under clouds and showery weather this weekend. A slow moving storm will interact and combine with the Pacific system moving north of the Great Lakes. The Pacific storm will absorb the weakening system that moved through the region on Friday keeping clouds and rain in the forecast for the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes for the weekend. By Sunday showers will spread into the central plains as weak disturbances swing through the Rockies. Some rain mixed with snow is possible from western Kansas to eastern Iowa on Sunday. Saturday’s highs will top out in the 30s in the Dakotas, low 50s from southern Michigan to central Kansas and the 60s from the Ozarks to the southern Ohio River Valley. By Sunday, cooler air will filter into the Midwest with highs dropping into the 40s from Kansas to Michigan with 50s from Missouri to the southern Ohio River Valley.