Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
254 PM EST Mon Feb 09 2026

Valid 00Z Tue Feb 10 2026 - 00Z Thu Feb 12 2026

...A frontal system will bring precipitation to California and the Central
Intermountain West beginning Tuesday morning and will continue through
late this week...

...A clipper system is expected to bring snow and wintry precipitation to
the Great Lakes, before moving into the Northeast mid-week...

...Above-average temperatures are set to continue for much of the western
and central United States, with conditions in the east also moderating....

An upper-level trough, currently located in the Pacific, is forecast to
move into California and the Central Great Basin/Intermountain West on
Tuesday. Upper- to mid-level support will allow for a surface frontal
system to persist, while another mid-latitude cyclone begins to move in
from the Pacific on Wednesday. Precipitation in California and parts of
the Intermountain West is set to begin on Tuesday morning in the form of
rain on the lower elevation/coastal regions, and snow/wintry mix on the
upslope regions and regions of higher elevation. Precipitation will then
linger through the middle of the week, as the aforementioned mid-latitude
cyclone arrives on Wednesday. This system will bring in an influx of
moisture, along with favorable low-level flow onshore, and will result in
locally heavy precipitation, particularly in the upslope regions of
California on Wednesday.

A clipper system will continue moving along the U.S./Canadian border,
bringing some wintry precipitation to portions of the Upper Great Lakes
today, with light snow and freezing rain possible. The system will
continue eastward on Tuesday bringing more moderate snow to portions of
Upstate New York and central New England. Further south, showers and
thunderstorms are expected ahead of a cold front stretching from the
central Appalachians through the Southwest on Tuesday, continuing into
Wednesday. Precipitation associated with this front is expected from the
Tennessee Valley/Mid-South through as far west as portions of the
Southwest.

Above-average temperatures are set to continue through early this week for
the central and western United States. Temperatures today in the Central
Plains could reach as high as 80 degrees, particularly in Kansas and
Nebraska. The previously mentioned cold front in the Central Plains will
then move through the Central and Southern Plains on Tuesday. This will
bring down temperatures slightly, but they are expected to generally
remain unseasonably high. With the passage of the front, gusty winds are
expected to commence thereafter. Low humidity and strong downsloping winds
will bring the risk of fire weather, which has prompted the Storm
Prediction Center to issue a Critical Risk of Fire Weather (level 2/3) for
parts of the Central and Southern High Plains.

After having experienced extremely cold temperatures for the past few
weeks, the eastern U.S. will finally see a widespread reprieve from the
extreme cold on Tuesday. Above average temperatures are forecast to span
from the Southeast through the northern Mid-Atlantic, with temperatures up
in the 40s and 50s in the Mid-Atlantic, and in the 60s and 70s in the
Southeast. Unfortunately for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, colder
temperatures are then expected to return to end the week, albeit much less
extreme.


Blanco-Alcala/Putnam


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