Weekend Weather Preview

Weather across the nation gradually calms by the end of the weekend, but not before the Eastern U.S. falls under another smorgasbord of winter storm hazards.

Saturday
A burgeoning low pressure system is set to shift rapidly eastward as the day progresses, primarily threatening the Northeast through the interior South. At first, scattered snow squalls pull through the morning for the northern Plains and east-central Rockies behind the storm, with a cold rain beginning from Missouri through Virginia along the warm front.

However, conditions amplify through the afternoon. Moderate rain totals align along the cold front from the Mid-Atlantic through Mississippi, with isolated lightning and thunderstorms possible beginning about 100 miles south of the Mason-Dixon line. 

To the north, another round of icy precipitation approaches, with a light glaze over parts of the Lower Midwest and some areas exceeding one-tenth inch of ice accretion and sleet in central Appalachia and the Mid-Atlantic. Otherwise, light to moderate snow total will pile into the Great Lakes in the afternoon and the rest of the Northeast by nighttime.

The atmospheric river pestering California for the past week will finally release its grip on the Golden State by Saturday. What remains will be a stagnant bout of trace to light wintry mix and higher-elevation snow in the Northwest. Places like the Gulf Coast, the southern Plains, and the Desert Southwest keep their conditions clear.

Warmer temperatures will try to peek northward on Saturday with 80s and isolated 90s south of the Texan Panhandle, central Arkansas southward, and South Florida. Warm 60s and 70s rise on thermometers across the rest of the South and the Desert Southwest. 

A tightly bound temperature gradient, mainly of upper 30s, 40s, and 50s dances across the nation's mid-latitudes, and the Pacific Coast expects to observe such a gradient too. More vastly spread subfreezing 30s and 20s mark the Mid-Atlantic, the New England coastline, the lower Great Lakes, and lower elevations in the Northwest. Bundle up if you find yourself in the northern Plains or higher Rocky ridges, as yet again, most areas here will not exceed the sharp teens or even the single digits.

Sunday
The low pressure system from Saturday will drift into the Atlantic Ocean and away from the Northeast on Sunday. There will still be plenty of moisture across the Great Lakes, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The Great Lakes and Northeast will experience just snow throughout the day, with the potential for moderate to heavy snow early in the day. Most of the Mid-Atlantic will see a mix of freezing rain and snow/sleet on Sunday morning, which will then taper off and end by midday. Coastal parts of the Mid-Atlantic will see just rain in the morning.

There will be two cold fronts that will be draped over the entire U.S. to close the weekend. One will be draped from the Southeast into the southern Plains and Front Range of Colorado, with the other one dropping south over the Northwest and northern Rockies.

Rain and perhaps a few thunderstorms are likely for the Southeast, Deep South and southern Plains, while light to moderate snow falls in the central Rockies and central High Plains. Frequent rounds of flurries or light snow will be in the forecast for the interior Northwest and northern Rockies. 

Several spots will miss out on any active weather on Sunday. This includes most of California into the Great Basin and Southwest, the northern Plains into the Midwest and Florida. 

The coldest temperatures will occur from the northern Rockies into the Upper Mississippi Valley, where temperatures will only reach single digits and teens. Expect temperatures in the teens and 20s across the highest elevations of the Mountain West as well as the Great Lakes and interior Northeast. Otherwise, 30s and 40s cover the Northwest, Great Basin and central/southern Rockies into the central Plains, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and southern New England.

Milder 50s and 60s are in store for most of California, parts of the southern Plains and Tennessee Valley. Though, 70s will occur in the Desert Southwest. Seventies and 80s make it feel like spring for the far southern Plains into the Gulf Coast and Southeast.