Winter storms this week may bring the precipitation people in these major cities are hoping for
By Judson Jones, CNN Meteorologist
Snow is in the forecast. It’s entirely possible this week for a couple of major cities that are waiting to see the white stuff pile up.
Denver and New York City have seen flurries, but neither Denver International Airport nor Central Park has recorded measurable snow this season.
A departing weather system off the East Coast “will leave behind a true winter airmass throughout the north-central and eastern US today,” says the Weather Prediction Center (WPC).
A low is expected to form off the Carolina coast, setting up the chance for flakes to fly in Central Park on Wednesday and potentially bring some measurable snow.
However, the latest from the National Weather Service in New York is a bit depressing for the city’s snow lovers.
“The threat for accumulating snowfall tomorrow has trended downward,” it tweeted. “Low pressure is expected to remain fairly weak as it tracks well to our east. While scattered rain and snow showers remain possible, the best chances will be across eastern areas of LI and CT.”
The bad news doesn’t end there as warmer temperatures will return this weekend with a chance of rain for the city and pushing the hope of snow further into December.
The same coastal low does have the chance to bring snow to New England.
“A developing coastal low along the Carolina coast is expected to move northeast and rapidly strengthen east of New England,” says the WPC. “As a result, a period of light snow is possible across parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine into the overnight hours on Wednesday.”
If anyone can commiserate with the snowless druthers, it is those who have been sunbathing in Denver’s unseasonable temperatures.
Denver has snow in sight
“There is some hope that we can put an end of the streak of snowless days for Denver,” the NWS in Boulder says.
Denver has never gone this long into the season without measurable snow, and this is the second-longest spell of snowless days between winter seasons.
“A swath of wintry weather is likely to spread from the Central Rockies into northern portions of the Plains to the Midwest/Upper Great Lakes on Friday,” the WPC says.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service caution plenty can change between now and then, but the computer forecast weather models appear to be in fairly decent agreement in terms of the timing of the overall storm pattern.
This gives them the hope that the streak will end Friday morning.
Before this storm system gets to Denver, it will also bring some hope — in the form of precipitation — to the drought-stricken Southwest.
Southwest rainfall is welcome
Tuesday morning, you could just feel the enthusiasm through the Los Angeles National Weather Service’s tweet. “We opened the door and can confirm very light sprinkles here at our office! Let’s keep those good vibes for more of that liquid gold this week!”
Any liquid precipitation is a welcome sight from the coast of Southern California to the Plains of Colorado, where the widespread drought continues to grip the nation’s western half.
The better chance for rain in the region comes from the aforementioned system that will move through the Southwest on Thursday.
In addition to rain in the lower elevations, snow will fall across the mountains.
“Heavy snow is possible throughout the Cascades and into the Sierra Nevada, where snowfall accumulations over eight inches are possible,” the WPC says. “As cold air filters into the Intermountain West, snow is likely to fall across the lower elevations into Thursday morning for portions of central and northern Nevada.”
This system will also bring the chance of precipitation to two states in dire need of precipitation: New Mexico and Arizona.
“A potent storm system is still expected Thursday and Friday, bringing welcome precipitation to western and central NM,” tweets the Albuquerque weather office.
And it isn’t just the fact this storm system is bringing precipitation, but also that it could bring more than just a sprinkle.
“Measurable rain is expected in many areas Thursday! This could be the heaviest rainfall in 3 months or more for some,” tweets the Phoenix NWS.
The system will continue to push across the nation’s eastern half over the weekend with the potential for a mix of rain and snow in the Midwest and rain for the East Coast this weekend, leaving some people still hoping for snow and some thankful to get what precipitation they can out of this storm system.
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