001
FXUS01 KWBC 050739
PMDSPD

Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
238 AM EST Wed Feb 05 2025

Valid 12Z Wed Feb 05 2025 - 12Z Fri Feb 07 2025

...Unsettled weather to persist across the Western U.S. through
the end of the week including a new threat of heavy rainfall for
California on Thursday...

...Winter storm to impact the Midwest and Great Lakes region
through the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with a
combination of snow, sleet and freezing rain later today through
Thursday...

...Record high temperatures are expected across much of the
Southern U.S. over the next few days...

A persistent deep layer low center and associated trough axis will
continue to provide a general fetch of deeper layer onshore flow
and precipitation for the Pacific Northwest and the northern
Rockies going through today and tonight. This will include
additional accumulating snowfall across the higher terrain with
portions of the Cascades along with the Sawtooth, Bitterroots and
Tetons likely to see an additional 6 to 12+ inches of snow.
Meanwhile, a new storm system offshore of the West Coast will
approach California on Thursday and bring a new atmospheric river
surge into the coastal ranges as well as the Central Valley and
Sierra Nevada going through Thursday night and Friday morning.
Heavy rainfall is expected with some potential for additional
localized flooding concerns. Over the higher terrain of the Sierra
Nevada, heavy snowfall is expected with as much as 1 to 3 feet of
snow expected with this next system as it moves inland. This new
surge of Pacific moisture will also lead to a new round of very
heavy snowfall for the northern Rockies with an additional 1 to 2+
feet of accumulating snow possible through Friday. Some of this
will also begin to eject east out into the northern Plains to end
the week.

Meanwhile, farther east from the Midwest through the Great Lakes
region and into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, there will be
arrival of a new winter storm later today through Thursday which
will bring a rather widespread swath of locally heavy snow, sleet
and freezing rain. The heaviest snowfall with several inches of
accumulation expected should focus across the Upper Midwest and
the U.P. of Michigan along with some interior portions of the
Northeast involving New York and the central and northern parts of
New England. South of here across the Ohio Valley and the
Mid-Atlantic region, the cold air that the precipitation will be
encountering with be notably more shallow, and this will be
conducive for sleet and freezing rain. Locally significant ice
accumulations will be possible with a 0.25"+ of ice accumulation,
and this will lead to hazardous travel conditions. Scattered power
outages and tree damage will be possible from the weight of the
ice.

Cold air will be generally well entrenched for the remainder of
the week across the northern Plains and the Pacific Northwest
which will maintain below normal high temperatures. Some of the
coldest air will continue to be over Montana where highs will
struggle to get above zero. Over the southern U.S., and to the
south of a strong frontal zone, very warm temperatures will be
pooled in a general west to east fashion spanning the Four Corners
region eastward across the southern Plains and most of the Gulf
Coast states. High temperatures will locally reach well into the
80s, and these temperatures will be as much as 20 to 30+ degrees
above normal.

Orrison

Graphics available at
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php
$$