Heavy snow, dangerous travel to expand as cold storms sweep from Cascades to interior West while snow and ice to precede larger late-week storm in central, eastern US

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Cold storms moving inland this week will bring heavy mountain snow from the cascades to

the Rockies, creating dangerous travel over mountain passes, and potential delays in cities

such as Salt Lake City and Denver as the system pushes southeast.

These storms will sweep from Washington and Oregon into Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado,

bringing rounds of snow to the mountains and interior west, along with cold rain at

lower elevations near the Pacific coast.

Snow will pile up over the cascades through Thursday night, with 6 to 10 feet possible

in the highest elevations.

As fresh snow piles up, the risk of avalanches will increase on steep mountain slopes.

Up to a few feet of snow will accumulate at past levels in the cascades, snowfall rates

may approach or exceed 2 inches per hour at times, as snow levels drop in the cascades

snow will broaden into lower elevations.

This combination of heavy snowfall and high rates could make it difficult for road crews

to keep up, closing some mountain passes.

Heavy snow will also pile up over the Olympics, with moderate to heavy snow spreading across

the blue mountains of north eastern Oregon and parts of Idaho, western Montana, and northwestern

Wyoming.

Cold rain will fall along the Interstate 5 Corridor in Washington, and much of Oregon leading

to slick roads and ponding in areas with poor drainage.

However, snow levels may dip as low as 1,000 feet with some accumulation possible over

the hills.

As the storms move southeast, snow will spread farther south as snow levels drop across

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

While the snow will help ease some drought concerns in the Colorado River Basin, it is likely

to cause some travel problems in areas that have had little winter weather so far.

From Thursday into Friday, rain may stay just east of Las Vegas, while Phoenix is likely

to receive a soaking that leads to some slick travel.

Rain will become mixed with and then may end as snow and albuquerque.

Up to a few inches of snow is expected to fall around Salt Lake City from Wednesday night

to Thursday with similar accumulations forecast for Flagstaff, Arizona, Thursday into Thursday

evening.

Denver will receive accumulating snow from Thursday into Friday morning with up to a few

inches in the metro area and a foot or more possible in the nearby mountains.

While the crews should be able to keep up with that storm, roads, and runways will be slippery

for a time and airline delays are likely due to deicing operations.

After the storm moves out later this week into the weekend, high pressure will build up

from the Pacific into the Great Basin leading to two weather concerns.

Temperatures will plummet over the interior west where there is fresh snow on the ground

and winds are light.

As air pressure rises over the Great Basin and interior California, winds will strengthen

as they move over mountain passes funneled through canyons and surge toward the Southern

California coast.

Gifting focus more to the east.

The coldest air is retreating from much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation.

But enough cold air will linger and work with the storm to deliver snow and ice to the

upper Midwest and northeast around midweek.

A larger and more impactful storm later in the week is expected to reintroduce colder

air to portions of the region.

Fleet freezing rain and snow are expected through the northern tier of Pennsylvania, upstate

New York, and central New England.

Just enough cold air is expected to support accumulating snow from near the shores of Lake

Huron, eastward across Southern Quebec, northeastern New York, and northern New England.

A general snowfall between one to six inches is forecast across this zone with an acuether

local storm max of 12 inches possible in portions of south central Ontario, the green and white

mountains of New England, and south eastern Quebec near the U.S. border.

Much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation is expected to experience a break from the recent

cold this week.

Temperatures may challenge daily records from Texas and the southern plains into the

southeast and to Wednesday, then along the southern Atlantic seaboard on Thursday.

A cross-country storm bringing rain and snow to the west on Wednesday is expected to dip

toward Texas on Thursday, before tracking toward the Great Lakes region later Thursday evening.

Now this lead storm of a duo will be the smaller of the two for the latter part of the week,

a coating to a couple of inches of wet snow is forecast from eastern Nebraska to northern

Michigan into Canada.

Now a second part of and the main body of the storm will follow about 24 hours later.

As this large storm moves along, it will carry Pacific moisture and then tap into additional

moisture from the Gulf. Now this setup is expected to produce a large swath of precipitation

from thunderstorms and heavy rain to snow and ice across the central U.S. from Friday into Saturday.

Severe thunderstorms are possible across eastern Oklahoma,

north eastern Texas, far south eastern Kansas and into parts of the Mississippi and Ohio

valleys from Thursday into Friday. Some of the rain will be heavy enough to lead to

flash flooding in urban and poor drainage areas on Friday, especially from north eastern

Louisiana and western Mississippi to south central Kentucky. During the weekend,

additional gusty to severe thunderstorms may affect portions of the southeast.

The exact location of the transition between rain, a wintry mix and snow across the plains will

depend on the storm's track. Now farther east, the expansion of warmer air ahead of the storm

may confine any wintry mix mainly to northern Maine. As traveled conditions improve midweek over

much of the central and eastern states, they are likely to deteriorate from Friday into Saturday.

Including at the airports. The storm is expected to finish up in the northeast

late in the week, but it could slow down as another storm approaches and tries to merge with it.

As colder air moves into the Great Lakes region from Friday into Saturday,

strengthening winds may cause rain to change to accumulating snow with the potential

for another round of heavy lake effect snow.

That's all for now. You can find more regional forecasts and science-based articles at acuether.com

and for your local forecast, at your fingertips, download the acuether app.

Enjoy the rest of your day. Be safe. I'll be back tomorrow with more from acuether.

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