Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
300 AM EST Fri Dec 02 2022

Valid 12Z Fri Dec 02 2022 - 12Z Sun Dec 04 2022

...A quick round of mountain snow will move across the northern and
central Rockies followed by the northern Plains today...

...A slow-moving low pressure system will bring lingering rain along
coastal Pacific Northwest before heavy precipitation reaches into
California on Saturday...

...Polar air surges southward into the central U.S. as mild and wet
weather surges up the East Coast on Saturday...

The cold airmass currently over the eastern U.S. will continue to modify
today as the surface high moves offshore with a broad southerly flow
strengthening ahead of a cold front sweeping across the Plains.  A sharply
colder arctic airmass will sink southward behind the front through the
northern Rockies, northern Plains, and then the Upper Midwest to close out
the work week, bringing subzero overnight lows across portions of Montana,
North Dakota, and northern Minnesota.  In the mean time, the anomalous
warmth over the Plains ahead of the sharp front will reach the East Coast
on Saturday, where high temperatures on the order of 10-20 degrees above
normal are expected, together with a period of wet weather.  However,
reality will quick return by early on Sunday as blustery northwesterly
winds usher in a fresh dose of arctic air into the region behind the sharp
front.

Showers and a few thunderstorms are expected to develop later today from
the Mid-South to the Ohio Valley as moisture is advected north ahead of
the approaching front.  This will likely increase in coverage going into
Saturday for the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast U.S., which could end as a
brief period of snow across the higher terrain of the interior Northeast
states.  Given the progressive nature of the front, rain and snowfall
totals will be kept in check with generally light to moderate amounts.

A quick round of mountain snow will move across the northern and central
Rockies followed by the northern Plains today in response to a low
pressure system quickly developing over the northern High Plains and
racing northeast towards the Great Lakes where a period of snow is
forecast early Saturday.  Meanwhile, snow will taper off across the Sierra
Nevada behind the exiting system.  However, a slow-moving low pressure
system will bring lingering rain along coastal Pacific Northwest over the
next couple of days before heavy precipitation reaches into California on
Saturday.  Another round of heavy snow appears likely for the Sierra
Nevada by late Saturday and into Sunday as the bulk of the moisture
associated with the system pushes onshore.  Noteworthy snow is also
expected across the higher terrain of Utah, Wyoming, and central Colorado
as the moisture plume from the Pacific advects farther inland, with up to
a foot of accumulation possible. 

High winds will also be making weather headlines today across the western
High Plains, where high wind warnings are currently in effect from
northeast New Mexico to eastern Wyoming.  Winds could gust in excess of 50
mph at times, and there will also be a greater fire weather danger owing
to the combination of high winds and low humidity.

Kong/Hamrick

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