Starting off with Tuesday, those throughout the West will not catch a break, at least not yet. Rain showers will continue to pound the West Coast with a continued threat of flash flooding for some areas. Farther inland across the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and Rockies, a scattered mix of rain and snow showers will be in store, with snow showers primarily confined to higher elevations. High pressure dominates over the rest of the country, making way for dry weather and lots of sunshine for many.
Wednesday will be similar, with rain and snow continuing throughout the West. Although, as the day carries on and especially into the overnight hours, rain and snow will lighten up across the West Coast while scattered snow showers become confined to the Rockies. Over the central Plains, the seeds for the next major storm system will be planted as a low pressure system begins to develop over the region. As evening arrives, some scattered light showers may develop over portions of the Corn Belt as a precursor for what is to come. The rest of the nation should remain dry.
By Thursday morning, rain showers will have developed across the central Plains, the Ohio Valley and into the eastern portion of the Great Lakes. A low pressure system over Quebec, Canada will be connected to the developing low pressure now over the central Mississippi Valley via a cold front. This will help drive a large swath of storms eastward. Rain will spread into portions of the Deep South and Northeast by midday and will continue into the overnight hours. The Southeast will begin seeing rain by nightfall, while parts of New England and Upstate New York will see some snow showers mixed in with the rain.
On Friday, most areas along the East Coast will be under the influence of unsettled weather to some degree. As the cold front sweeps through the region Friday evening, showers will be tapering off in most areas before the storm system completely pulls away from the coast overnight. Some isolated lake-effect snow showers around the Great Lakes are also possible, but otherwise most places elsewhere around the country should stay dry. This even includes the West Coast, which will probably be a welcomed change with open arms.
As we ring in the final weekend of February, some lingering rain or snow showers may creep up across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on Saturday. Other than that, not much to write home about for the rest of the Lower 48 as high pressure settles in over the Central and Western U.S.
For Sunday, there is some uncertainty in terms of timing and placement for a couple of storm systems that may impact the U.S. With that said, there are signs that a clipper system known as an “Alberta Clipper” may bring some unsettled weather to parts of the Northeast, including snow and rain. On the western half of the U.S., dry weather will exit as another stream of moisture channels into the West Coast. Rain and snow will likely spread inland towards the Rockies by Monday morning as a result. Monday looks like it will be a wintry mess for much of the West, as rain and snow showers dot the region, while some scattered rain showers overspread parts of the Midwest.
In terms of temperatures across the U.S., spring-like highs ranging from the 40s, 50s, 60s and even 70s are expected to dominate much of the Lower 48 this week. The greatest anomalies will be felt over the Great Plains, with some areas reaching over 20 degrees above normal for late February. The East and West coasts will balance things out though as they hover near or slightly below normal for much of the week. Expect high temperatures to max out in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s across the Northeast and Pacific Northwest this week, while the Southeast and Southwest bask in the 60s and 70s. There may even be a few 80s appearing across the southern Plains this week.
