Weather Friday April 5 2024 Ion Weather West coast rain and mountain snow Fair middle country and rain snow showers northeast

Heavy Snow winds down over New England and Sierra Nevada.High Winds likely for Central Great Basin and FourCorners/Intermountain West.Critical Fire Risk for Central/Southern High Plains this weekend.A very strong and impactful low pressure system, which has already broughtheavy snow to the Sierra Nevada, will spread rain and snow into theinterior West over the next couple of days. Tonight, heavy snow over theSierra Nevada will weaken as the focus for snow, rain and wind shifteastward. Over the next 24 hours, between 6-12 inches of snow is expectedto accumulate over the Sierra Nevada; ranges of northeastern California,northern Nevada, Sawtooth; and the Blue Mountains. High winds willaccompany this system, particularly over parts of the Great Basin andIntermountain West, where sustained winds of 35-45 mph and gusts up to 60mph are possible. High Wind Warnings and Watches are in effect for thoseareas as a result. Snow showers spread into the Northern/Central RockiesFriday night into Saturday, with 4-8 inches possible over those areas.This system will reorganize and quickly intensify as it emerges over theFront Range this weekend. High winds, warm weather and low dew points willsupport a Critical Risk of Fire Weather over parts of the Central andSouthern High Plains beginning Friday and continuing through at leastSunday. Scattered rain showers and thunderstorms will develop over theCentral/Southern Plains on Saturday night, while snow continues over theNorthern Rockies/High Plains.Meanwhile, in the East, a deep upper-level trough will slowly move off theNortheast Coast over the coming days. The associated low pressure system,which has already dumped several inches of snow over parts of theNortheast and New England, will linger around Downeast Maine over the nextcouple of days, spreading snow showers across the state and surroundingareas. Tonight, the heaviest snowfall will come to an end, but between 4-8inches may still accumulate as the parent low lingers nearby. Snow showerscontinue over the Allegheny Mountains tonight, producing around 4-8 inchesof snow. An omega block upper-level pattern will support below averagetemperatures across the West and East and above average temps in theCentral U.S. over the next couple of