Weather Thursday March 21 2024 ION Weather Fair and cold NE dry most of the east ... Texas and Gulf coast rains and dry today for the west coast

Snow showers forecast throughout the Northeast over the next few days;accumulating snowfall forecast in portions of New England.Light to moderate snow spreads from the northern Plains to the GreatLakes by Friday; strong winter storm expected this weekend.Shower and thunderstorm chances return to the Southern Plains and GulfCoastThe forecast remains on track for a low pressure system to deepen thisevening across the Interior Northeast and New England, producing periodsof snowfall while also reinforcing lake enhanced snow showers in its wake.Minor to locally Moderate potential winter storm impacts can be expectedwith this round of snowfall through tomorrow afternoon focused overportions of northern New Hampshire and Maine, where high probabilities(80-90%) of at least 4 inches of snow are noted. Meanwhile, a separate winter storm is anticipated to produce a swath ofsnow beginning tonight between the northern Plains and Great Lakes throughthe end of the work week as a precipitation shield develops along anemerging frontal wave, which shifts eastward by tomorrow night. Highprobabilities for at least 4 inches of snow remain across northwestMontana, with medium to high probabilities (40-80%) extending fromnorth-central Montana to central Minnesota, including southern SouthDakota, where a swath of Winter Weather Advisories are in effect. Greaterchances for moderate to heavy snow shifts to the Upper Midwest and GreatLakes by Friday, where there is the potential for up to 10-12 inches ofsnow. Beyond this first round of Northern Tier snowfall, the pattern willremain quite active looking into this weekend as confidence is increasingthat a large storm system will produce a swath of heavy snow, freezingrain, and sleet across portions of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwestinto early next week. Residents should remain weather aware and up to datewith the latest forecast as details change with these next two dynamicsnowfall events.Elsewhere, unsettled weather is set to return to the southern Plains, GulfCoast, and parts of the West Coast. An uptick in shower and thunderstormactivity is expected tonight and tomorrow over portions of Oklahoma andTexas as a stubborn upper-low ejects into the Southern Plains tonight. Bytomorrow, rain could become heavy enough along the western Gulf Coast andsoutheast Texas to produce isolated flooding concerns. This system isforecast to progress eastward into the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, spreadingshowers and thunderstorms along the entire Gulf Coast, as well aseventually Florida and the Southeast by late Friday. However, both thesevere and flooding threat associated with this system remain marginal.For the West Coast, light to moderate rain is expected to move inlandacross northern California and the coastal Midwest on Friday. As the axisof precipitation along a frontal boundary intersects the Sierra on Fridaynight, heavy snow is possible throughout the mountainous terrain.