Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
301 AM EST Sun Dec 07 2025

Valid 12Z Sun Dec 07 2025 - 12Z Tue Dec 09 2025

...Prolonged atmospheric river brings heavy rain and snow to the Pacific
Northwest beginning tomorrow...

As the weekend comes to a close, a series of atmospheric rivers set to
impact the Pacific Northwest should dominate weather headlines for the
next few days. An initial wave of moderate rainfall is forecast to impact
coastal Washington and Oregon today along a weakening frontal system.
While this first bout of rainfall will be fairly benign, it will serve to
saturate soils ahead of a prolonged round of heavy rainfall which begins
tomorrow morning. As such, the latest Excessive Rainfall forecast depicts
a Slight Risk over the Pacific Northwest on Monday, where scattered
instances of flooding are possible. Heavy rainfall is expected to continue
through midweek as atmospheric river conditions continue, so stay tuned as
subsequent forecast days fall into the short range. Rainfall aside, the
impending atmospheric rivers should lead to high elevation snowfall in the
Cascades and Northern Rockies, where snowfall could eclipse a foot above
6000-7000 feet.

For the rest of the Lower 48, fairly benign weather should persist as
transitory cold and dry high pressure migrates across across the Central
and Eastern U.S. Locally heavy rainfall is possible in northern Florida
today ahead of a returning polar front, although this will be largely
beneficial with much of the region in drought conditions. As the
aforementioned high pressure migrates eastward, portions of the Plains
will drastically warm up over the next several days too, leading to high
temperatures in the 50's and 60's in the Heartland by Tuesday (roughly 20
degrees above average).

Asherman


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