Storms Dump Snow, Heavy Rain
National Radar, Image: NOAA
Monday Forecast, Image: NOAA
Click for the latest national radar imagery.
A cold front stretching from the Northeast to the Southern Plains is dumping heavy rain. TV forecasters from D.C. to Southern Texas will be monitoring the advancing front for the possibility of flash flooding today. Another storm system developing over Texas and Louisiana will provide the chance for flooding rains later in the week. Click for your latest TV forecast in your area.
A storm system continues to add snow accummulations in the lower portions of New Mexico, close to El Paso, Texas.
Forecast models for the next 10 days continue to show an upper low cut off from the main jet stream bringing cooler weather and the chance for rain and/or snow to the Southwest.
-Dawn Brown
Snow in the Southwest
Today's Temperature Forecast, Image: NOAA
- National Forecast, Image: NOAA
Snow showers are piling up across the Southwest in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
Cold air is filtering as far south as Southern California this Sunday afternoon. A large upper level low, or storm system, cut off from the main jet stream will provide a chance for rain and snow over the Southwest the next several days.
Snow Coming to the East, West
Northeast Radar, Image: NOAA
Today's Temperature Forecast, Image: NOAA
Click for the latest Northeast Radar image.
After a fairly mild Thanksgiving across much of the country, the Northeast is getting a good soaking on this Black Friday. This same storm system could leave a coating of snow across portions of New England overnight tonight into Saturday.
At the same time, a storm system crossing the Sierra Nevada mountain range will provide a chance for snow accummulations in the Lake Tahoe, Reno, Nevada area.
For the latest forecast in your area, click here.
-Dawn Brown
Thanksgiving Forecast
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
For the latest forecast for your Thanksgiving Day plans, visit the
GET YOUR LOCAL TV FORECAST! section of this website. On the right hand menu bar, scroll down to the last green tab.
You can get your local TV forecast from anywhere in the US.
-Dawn Brown
Weather for Your Turkey Travel Day
Southeast US Radar, Image: NOAA (Image is OLD!)
Click for the latest radar image.
Thunderstorms are delaying travel in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area this Wednesday morning. The FAA’s website has all the latest travel delays across the country. Check it before you go to the airport. If the sphere on the map is green where you are flying, you are good to go. If not, click on the yellow or orange sphere, and it will tell you the amount of the delay and the reason for it.
Currently, there are also weather delays in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and D.C..
No delays in the Midwest so far, but with an arctic air mass advancing toward the Great Lakes region over the next two days, minor accumulations of lake effect snow are a possibility.
The previous link shows you another awesome graphic from USA Today explaining lake effect snow.
Lake Effect Snow Explainer, Image: NOAA
As you can see, it takes a delicate combination of cold air near the surface, a cold, straight wind blowing across a warmer body of water, and some high ground on the leeward side of the lake for lake effect snow to occur.
Forecasters in northern Michigan, and parts of Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York will be in for some interesting weather this holiday weekend. Go to the GET YOUR LOCAL TV FORECAST! link on the right hand menu bar, find the city your in, or where you are traveling, and follow their forecast.
I hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving.
-Dawn Brown
Cold Air is On Its Way!
Thanksgiving Temperature Forecast, Image: Unisys Weather
- Today’s Forecast, Image: NOAA
Cold air is being ushered in just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Although a cold front is bisecting the country today, a reinforcing cold front Wednesday and Thursday will bring the cold air to the deep South.
Heavy rain is developing along a cold front slicing through the Mississippi River Valley today. Illinois is bearing the brunt of the rain today.
-Dawn Brown
Fog: Another Winter Hazard
Dense Fog, Image: NOAA
Dense fog has developed once again across the Northern and Central Plains. Drivers in Oklahoma City, Lincoln, Nebraska and parts of Wisconsin faced dangerous driving conditions this morning.
Dense fog advisories were issued. Advisories come out when fog reduces visibility to 1/4 mile or less over a widespread area. (Source: NOAA)
Fog is a low cloud. In the wintertime, A moist air mass, light wind, and cooling overnight can lead to dense fog.When an air mass cools to its dew point, the air will condense into clouds. This type of fog is called radiation fog. There are many other types of fog that form all year long. The University of Wisconsin has some easy to understand fog descriptions with pictures!
Today's National Forecast, Image: NOAA
Snow is falling once again across the Rockies. Expect a wintry mix in North Dakota and Minnesota, and more rain across the Mid-Atlantic.
-Dawn Brown
Gulf Storm Advances to Carolinas
Precipitation Forecast, Image: NOAA
A low pressure system that dumped heavy rain in Texas and Louisiana is now advancing to the Mid-Atlantic region. Parts of Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas can expect heavy rain before the low tracks off the coast of the United States. Rain / higher elevation snow storms continue to roll into the Pacific Northwest. Coastal areas of Washington and Oregon continue to see rain and high winds, whereas the Cascades continue to pile up snow.
Sky Cover, Image: NOAA
This map shows the National Weather Service’s forecast for the percentage of sky cover across the United States. You can see the Southwest, Big Mountain West and portions of the Mid-West and New England are sunny today.
The Thanksgiving forecast still looks pretty rough for the Mid-West and Great Lakes region. Check out your local TV forecast for the latest on the midweek storms. You can get those forecasts by clicking on the GET YOUR LOCAL TV FORECAST! link on the bottom right hand side of this website.
-Dawn Brown
Sneak Peak at Thanksgiving
Cold Air Moves South, Image: Unisys Weather
Brr! This is a computer model image of what Thanksgiving Day looks like in terms of high temperatures. (The temperatures are in Celsius and about 5000 feet above sea level—but this map helps forecasters compute the high and low temperatures in your area.)
A storm system setting up across the United States will keep temperatures in the 40s in places like Cincinnati, Ohio on turkey day, with overnight lows at or below freezing. There’s even the possibility of lake effect snow across the Great Lakes region.
The Pacific Northwest and Southeastern States will also feel the big chill! Perfect weather for some indoor mall shopping on Black Friday.
-Dawn Brown
Preparing for Wintry Weather
Winter Storms, Beltway, Image: NOAA
Early snow storms are a boon to ski retailers, but they also cause massive headaches for travelers and powerful snow storms can knock out power to thousands. The National Weather Service is now putting out its Winter Weather Guide.
As far as traveling in cold weather states, when bad weather is coming, the NWS has the following advice:
- Keep the gas tank full to keep the fuel line from freezing.
- Let someone know your destination, route, and when you expect to arrive.
- Keep a cell phone or other emergency communication device with you.
- Pack your car with thermal blankets, extra winter clothes, basic tool kit, (including a good knife and jumper cables), an ice scraper and shovel, flashlights or battery-powered lanterns with extra batteries, and high calorie, nonperishable food, and water.
- Use sand or kitty litter under your tires for extra traction, especially if you find yourself stuck in a slippery spot.
When a winter storm hits, there are four types of possible precipitation. The following graphic from NOAA illustrates the four types.
Snow starts off as frozen precipitation high up in the atmosphere. If the temperature is below freezing as the snowflake falls, it never melts., and lands on the ground or in the palm of your hand as a snowflake. Sleet is a snowflake that melts as it falls into warmer air, but then refreezes when it hits a layer of subfreezing air close to the ground. Sleet looks like ice pellets. Freezing rain starts off as snow, then melts in warmer air, and then refreezes after it hits the ground. Freezing rain is often referred to as “black ice” because when drivers hit a patch of ice on the highway, often they don’t see it because it is the same color as the asphalt. Finally, if the column of air is above freezing throughout most of the atmosphere, the frozen precipitation will melt and fall as rain. USA Today has a great graphic with more thorough information on the four different types of winter precipitation. For more information on winter weather advisories and warnings, see the NWS’s Winter Weather Guide. -Dawn Brown