Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
300 PM EST Mon Dec 08 2025

Valid 00Z Tue Dec 09 2025 - 00Z Thu Dec 11 2025

...Atmospheric river to usher in several days of heavy rain into the
Pacific Northwest and snow into the northern Rockies...

...Snow across North Carolina and Virginia is expected to taper off this
evening...

...A clipper will bring a period of snow across the upper Midwest and the
Great Lakes through Tuesday...

...A stronger clipper is expected to bring the threat of heavy snow and
high winds across the upper Midwest on Tuesday then across the Great Lakes
on Wednesday...

A weather pattern that supports heavy rain across coastal Pacific
Northwest will transition to cold and snowy weather for the northern tier
states. This will be in stark contrast with dry and milder than normal
conditions across the Southwest. In the short-term, snow associated with
an upper-level trough and a developing low pressure system is in progress
across North Carolina and Virginia this afternoon. The low pressure system
is forecast to rapidly intensify and rapidly move off the Mid-Atlantic
coast tonight arctic air, which will bring the snow to an end while
dragging colder air farther south into the East Coast tonight with
temperatures down into the teens Tuesday morning as far south as North
Carolina. The arctic chill will challenge some low temperature records
across the interior Mid-Atlantic to southern New England Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, a prolonged atmospheric river event is beginning to take shape
over the Pacific Northwest. The arrival of widespread to heavy rain today
signals the beginning of several days of heavy rainfall expected to impact
western Washington and northwestern Oregon.  The potent trans-Pacific jet
stream will continue to transport sub-tropical moisture from the Pacific
and dump the moisture as heavy rain closer to the coast, and more than a
foot of new snow for the northern Rockies in northwestern Wyoming. 
Isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding are possible near the
coast and into the Cascades through midweek, where a slew of Flood Watches
are in effect.  Rainfall aside, parts of the Pacific Northwest, northern
Rockies, and northern Plains can also expect very gusty winds through the
next couple of days as the same Pacific jet develops a strong clipper
system in the Canadian Rockies. As this clipper system ejects eastward
into the northern Plains and upper Midwest late Tuesday, a swath of
moderate to locally heavy snow is expected develop along the northern
flank of the low center.  Snowfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches can be
expected from northeastern corner of North Dakota through the central
Great Lakes.  This clipper system is forecast to quickly intensify,
producing an expanding area of very strong and gusty winds to accompany
the snow.  The snow will be tapering off across the northern Plains on
Wednesday behind the storm but snow will be expanding through the lower
Great Lakes and into interior Northwest as the storm center approaches. 
Rain will be falling farther south across the Ohio Valley on Wednesday,
moving into the northern Mid-Atlantic later that day.

Prior to the aforementioned clipper, a weaker clipper will bring a period
of snow across the upper Midwest and the Great Lakes into tonight and
through Tuesday.  Meanwhile, the central and southern Plains as well as
the Deep South will enjoy fine and dry weather with a warming trend
especially for the Plains.  The Southwest will remain dry and milder than
normal while much milder than normal conditions are forecast for the
Northwest into the northern High Plains along with the inclement weather. 
A gradual drying trend is forecast for the Sunshine State as a cold front
pulls out to sea.

Kong/Asherman


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