Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
253 PM EST Tue Jan 06 2026

Valid 00Z Wed Jan 07 2026 - 00Z Fri Jan 09 2026

...Heavy mountain snow for the Cascades as well as portions of the
Interior West through Thursday...

...Winter storm to bring a combination of snow, sleet and freezing rain to
the Northeast tonight...

...Well above average warmth from the Great Plains to the Appalachians
through Thursday...

Continued onshore flow within an active jet stream carrying a number of
impulses aloft into the Pacific Northwest will result in nearly continuous
snowfall for the Cascade Mountains over the next couple of days. Through
Thursday evening, Two to four feet of snow is anticipated for the
Washington and Oregon Cascades, even down to some of the passes given the
colder airmass in place. As a number of cold fronts move through the
Northwest, snow levels will fall through Wednesday night bringing the
potential for wet snow to mix in for locations such as Tacoma and Seattle.
The moisture and energy aloft will also impact the northern Rockies
downstream with locally heavy snow. Snowfall intensity will begin to drop
off from west to east during the day on Thursday.

Across the northeastern U.S., a wintry mix will precede an area of low
pressure tracking eastward from the Great Lakes tonight. The majority of
precipitation will end by late Wednesday morning but a light wintry mix
will likely continue through the afternoon. Ice accumulations up to one to
two tenths of an inch and snowfall around an inch will likely affect
locations from Upstate New York into central New England. Only far
northern New England is forecast to remain all snow where one to three
inches of snowfall is expected.

Across the central and much of the eastern U.S., above average
temperatures will be commonplace through mid-week. A deepening upper level
trough across the West will allow for upper level ridging to build
downstream across the eastern U.S. through Thursday. Warm southerly winds
at the surface will help to support high temperatures that will be roughly
15 to 25 degrees above average for many locations from the Great Plains to
the Appalachians on Wednesday and Thursday. Overnight minimum temperature
departures will be even greater, up to or just over 30 degrees above
average from central Texas into the Missouri and Iowa on Thursday. A
number of daily record-tying/breaking highs are possible, especially from
the southern Plains into the southeastern U.S. The anomalous warmth will
reach the East Coast for the end of the week.

Otto


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