US Day 3-7 Hazards Outlook NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 321 PM EST Tue Jan 04 2022 Valid Friday January 07 2022 - Tuesday January 11 2022 Hazards: - Heavy precipitation across portions of California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Northern Great Basin, Fri, Jan 7. - Heavy rain across portions of the Southeast, the Southern Appalachians, the Lower Mississippi Valley, the Southern Plains, and the Tennessee Valley, Sat-Sun, Jan 8-Jan 9. - Heavy snow across portions of the Northeast, the Northern Rockies, and the Northern Great Basin, Fri, Jan 7. - Flooding possible across portions of the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Pacific Northwest. - Flooding occurring or imminent across portions of the Pacific Northwest and the Ohio Valley. - Flooding likely across portions of the Pacific Northwest and the Ohio Valley. - Much below normal temperatures across portions of the Northern Plains and the Northern Rockies, Fri-Sun, Jan 7-Jan 9. - Much below normal temperatures across portions of the Central Plains, the Lower Mississippi Valley, the Central Appalachians, the Northern Plains, the Tennessee Valley, the Middle Mississippi Valley, the Southern Appalachians, the Upper Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio Valley, Fri, Jan 7. - Much below normal temperatures across portions of the Northeast and the Great Lakes, Tue, Jan 11. - Heavy precipitation across portions of the Alaska Panhandle and mainland Alaska, Sat-Tue, Jan 8-Jan 11. - High winds across portions of the Alaska Panhandle and mainland Alaska, Sat-Sun, Jan 8-Jan 9. - Much below normal temperatures across portions of mainland Alaska, Fri-Sun, Jan 7-Jan 9. - Much below normal temperatures across portions of mainland Alaska, Fri-Sat, Jan 7-Jan 8. Detailed Summary: The main weather features impacting the lower 48 during this forecast period (Friday, January 7 - Tuesday, January 11) will be a storm exiting the East Coast early on and an amplifying mid-upper level trough moving steadily eastward from the West Coast Friday across the central U.S. over the weekend and into the eastern states early next week. The low moving up the northeastern seaboard will support a swath of moderate to heavy snow across sections of New England. While there is still some uncertainty with the track of this system, it appears the most likely potential for near-warning criteria amounts will be confined to coastal sections from Massachusetts through Maine. This storm is also forecast to intensify Friday, which will lead to fairly strong northwesterly winds across much of New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic states. Behind this system, Arctic high pressure will bring one more day of much below normal temperatures to the mid-Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys before conditions moderate over the weekend. In the West on Friday, looks like one last storm system will impact the region before the weather settles down this coming weekend into early next week. Onshore flow associated with this storm will bring a round of moderate to heavy precipitation into the Pacific Northwest and Northern Intermountain region. The greatest totals (mostly snow) will be along the Washington and Oregon Cascades, and then over favored terrain across northern and central Idaho. Over the weekend, this mid-upper trough will push across the Rockies into the central states, with a low spinning up over the northern High Plains Saturday, then traversing across south-central and eastern Canada through early next week. This low will anchor a strong cold front, which will result in another push of Arctic air into the central and eastern states. The most anomalous temperatures will be initially confined to northern Montana Saturday, but move eastward across the Dakotas, Upper Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes region Sunday and Monday before shifting into New England next Tuesday. Lows under the core of the coldest air will generally range in the single digits and teens below zero, with highs struggling to reach zero. Farther south, Gulf of Mexico moisture will stream out ahead of the advancing front, with moderate to heavy rainfall breaking out over the lower-mid Mississippi Valleys on Saturday, then settling into the Southeast on Sunday. The most significant rains will probably be over the Southeast, where general 1-2 inch amounts will be common, with locally heavier totals. The front will slide across Florida early next week, but as it weakens, precipitation amounts along it will lessen considerably. For Alaska, a strong low pressure area developing in or near the western Gulf of Alaska will support a southerly flow of deep Pacific moisture toward the south-central mainland and Panhandle over the weekend. There is pretty good agreement among the model guidance for a significant precipitation event, though some question exists as to how much falls over the Panhandle. Current thinking is that the heaviest amounts are most likely Sunday into Monday and concentrate from the Kenai Peninsula eastward across southeastern Alaska. Precipitation will start out as snow for most areas, though the intrusion of warmer air will allow for a changeover to rain across parts of the Panhandle and right along the coast of south-central/southeastern Alaska. Across these same coastal regions, the presence of a strong pressure gradient between the Gulf of Alaska low pressure and a high centered north of the state will result in strong winds, with easterly or southeasterly gusts up to 40-60 mph possible over the weekend. Elsewhere, much below normal temperatures will continue into the early part of the weekend for southwestern Alaska, the Alaska Range/Denali Park and eastern sections of the Yukon-Tanana Uplands. However, much more mild air will stream inland for next week. Klein