Winter Storm to Impact Much of the Northern US

I feel like this has been a common theme recently. We all get really cold, and then a major storm system developed and moves eastward. What does it do? it advects warm air here locally, leaving us with pure rain and no snow to hope about. While we may be able to hope for snow this weekend, we won’t be seeing much. That is quite a stark contrast with those to our north.

As we speak, a fairly significant trough of low pressure is beginning to make its way onto the California coast. This is forecast to bring significant rain and snow to the Mountains and valleys of California, and then work its way eastward. These are areas that desperately need the precipitation. They are expecting a lot of it, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Much of that region is currently within an Extreme to Exceptional drought.

As that system moves eastward, it is forecast to force a surface low across the upper Rockies and High Plains. This low is then forecast to propagate southeastward through southern Kansas and then up into the Great Lakes region. This is the same low that may give us the snow this weekend.

As this occurs, a band of heavy snowfall is likely to form and track eastward with the low pressure system. This will be to the north and west of the low, and is forecast to drop significant amounts from South Dakota through Wisconsin. Just look at this crazy stretch of Winter Storm Warnings.

Within those warnings, 6-12″ of snow is expected through almost all of those regions. This winter storm could majorly disrupt the holiday weekend travel across the northern Plains in cities like Minneapolis, Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Sioux Falls. If you are traveling northward this weekend, be on the lookout for heavy snow, and take extra precautions going that direction.