NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY

 

FEBRUARY 2013

 

1^st-9^th…Lake effect snow showers continued over the Great Lakes on Friday, while cold air continued to pour across the eastern states. A ridge of high pressure built over the Plains and stretched eastward over the Eastern Valleys. This created strong flow from the north, which pushed in cooler air from Canada. High temperatures across the Eastern Valleys and Central and Southern Appalachians ranged from 15 to 30 degrees below seasonable. The Tennessee Valley saw highs in the mid-30s, while the Mid-Mississippi River Valley saw highs in the mid-20s. To the north, flow over the lakes kicked up more lake effect snow showers over the downwind shores of Michigan, New York States, and into Pennsylvania. Snowfall accumulation ranged from 1 to 3 inches in most areas, with isolated amounts up to 8 inches in some areas. The Northern Plains and Upper Midwest remained bitterly cold with high temperatures just below zero. Early morning low temperatures dropped into the negative 20s and 30s, with the lowest temperature reported at 34 below zero at Big Fork, Minnesota. To the west, a trough of low pressure moved off the Northern Rockies and into the Plains, producing a few scattered snow showers from Montana and Wyoming through the Dakotas. Snowfall totals ranged from 1 to 3 inches in these areas.

Cold weather continued from the Northern Plains and upper Midwest through the Northeast and into the mid-Atlantic on Monday as an upper trough of low pressure remains the dominant weather feature of the East. The system maintained a cold northwesterly flow across the region and kept daytime highs about 5 to 15 degrees below average. Meanwhile, a clipper on the back of this trough moved through the Ohio Valley with limited moisture, kicking up generally light, scattered snow showers through the afternoon. More moderate snowfall developed in areas downwind of the Great Lakes. Behind this system, a second disturbance moved into the Northern Plains with snow showers In the South, a weak wave of energy from the Southern Rockies will kicked up scattered rain showers across the Southern Plains and the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Lower Ohio Valley. A few lightning strikes were possible in showers along the Texas and Louisiana coasts as moist flow from the Gulf increased instability. Elsewhere, outside of a few light showers and high elevations snow possible in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies due to an advancing cold front, high pressure provided generally dry and calm conditions across the rest of the West.

Wednesday was a bit of a transition day in terms of weather as no major storm moved through the country. The wettest weather was noted in south and east Texas as a developing storm moved through the area. This storm gathered enough moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to produce light to occasionally heavy rain. The heaviest rainfall was actually noted just off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. This storm will continue moving eastward along the Gulf Coast through Thursday, before turning northeastward up the eastern seaboard. This storm will have the capability of being quite intense Thursday and Friday as it brings heavy snow and strong winds through New England.

 

Elsewhere on Wednesday, another developing storm moved out of the northern Rockies and into the Northern Plains. While areas of snow fell in the Dakotas and Minnesota, much heavier snow will fall in Wisconsin and Michigan Thursday. This storm will continue moving eastward and eventually combine with the aforementioned storm to become very powerful on Friday. Other than a few rain and high elevation snow in Washington and Oregon, the West remained mostly dry for one more day. A cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska will move onto the West Coast Thursday, finally renewing precipitation from Washington through California. The Northeast rose into the 20s and 30s, while the Southeast saw temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The Upper Midwest will rise into the 20s and 30s, while the Southwest saw temperatures in the 60s and 70s.

Two weather systems merged over the Northeast on Friday as a low pressure system moved eastward over the Great Lakes and another system moved northward up the East Coast. This pushed abundant moisture onshore, while the system to the north kept the region cool. This allowed for heavy snow showers to spread from the Great Lakes into the Northeast, while snow, freezing rain, and rain showers moved in from the south. Snowfall totals have ranged from 4 to 12 inches across Michigan, with 5 to 8 inches across western New York and Vermont. Mid-day snowfall totals reached up to 7.5 inches at Morrisville, Vermont, with 6.6 inches of snow reported at Portland, Maine. Rainfall totals over the Mid-Atlantic States have ranged from 2 to 3 inches. Heaviest rainfall was reported at Hatteras,North Carolina with a mid-day total of 2.85 inches of rain. Strong winds accompanied this system with gusts from 50 to 60 mph. Thus, blizzard warnings have been issued for parts of the Northeast, with hurricane force wind advisories issued for the coastal areas. Out West, a low pressure system moved over the West Coast and into the Great Basin, producing more scattered rain and high elevation snow showers. Rainfall totals remained less than an inch, while snowfall totals across the Great Basin reach up to 7 inches at highest mountain peaks.

 

10^th-16^th…The strong winter storm that brought blizzard conditions to the north-central U.S. and tornadoes to the Southeast on Sunday lifted northeastward across the Great Lakes towards southeastern Canada on Monday. As the system progresses, a cold air mass over the Upper Great Lakes supported a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow across the region. A coating to about two tenths of an inch of ice was expected in the upper tier of the Great Lakes, especially in the higher/elevated terrain of the area. This mixture of precipitation also spread across the Northeast as the system shifted eastward. Wintry precipitation in southern New England began to change into rain showers by the afternoon. Meanwhile, the associated cold front pushed eastward through the Eastern Valleys and across the Mid-Atlantic with light to moderate scattered showers, while the southern half of the disturbance remained stretched across the Southeast. A broad swath of southwesterly flow streaming across the Southern Plains and Southeast and allowed moisture to focus along and near the cold front. This translated into widespread to scattered rain showers with areas of moderate to locally heavy rain and ongoing thunderstorms near the Gulf Coast from eastern Texas and Louisiana through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.

 

The southeastern portion of the country remained quite active Wednesday a storm moved through the region. The exiting storm brought moderate to occasionally heavy morning rain to the southeast coast, while scattered showers fell through much of the rest of the Southeast. As the storm moved northeastward along the eastern seaboard, its associated cold front draped itself over northern Florida and allowed for areas of moderate to heavy rain along with some thunderstorms mostly north of Tampa Bay. This front was expected to drift southward down Florida over the next few days, bringing potentially sustained rainfall to the southern half of the state. This may be the first significant rainfall for the state in several weeks. Meanwhile, another storm moved out of central Canada and into the Northern Plains. This storm brought cold air along with it, instigating areas of snow in the Dakotas and western Minnesota. Also, scattered rain and snow showers fell in Idaho and Montana. The rest of the country remain mostly dry under a high pressure system. The Northeast rose into the 30s and 40s, while the Southeast saw a range of temperatures from the 40s through the 80s from Tennessee through Florida. The Rockies rose into the 20s and 30s, while the Northwest saw temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

Wintry weather spread across the East on Friday as a low pressure system in eastern Canada pushed two cold fronts over the Eastern Valleys. This produced scattered snow showers from the Ohio River Valley through northern Texas. Snowfall totals ranged from 1 to 2 inches for most areas, with up to 4 inches likely at higher elevations of the Northern and Central Appalachians. Over 5 inches were reported along downwind shores of the Great Lakes in western Michigan and northwestern New York State. Strong winds also accompanied these frontal boundaries with gusts from 50 to 60 mph reported across the Lower Mississippi River Valley and across northern Texas. Meanwhile, just to the south, a stalled frontal boundary brought more showers and thunderstorms to Florida on Friday. These storms have not turned severe, but brought more heavy rains to far southern Florida and into the Bahamas. In the West, a weak trough of low pressure moved off the Central Rockies and into the Central Plains. Cool temperatures over the region allowed for scattered snow showers to develop from eastern Colorado through Nebraska and into Iowa. Snowfall accumulation remained light in these areas and ranged around an inch. Further west, high pressure remained the dominant weather feature over the West Coast and created another dry and pleasant day.

 

17^th-23^rd…A storm system in the northern Plains pushed eastward and headed into the upper Midwest on Monday, while an associated front reached from the upper Midwest through the southern Plains later in the day. Energy from this system and cold temperatures in the north supported more snow shower development and strong northwest winds in parts of the northern Rockies and the northern and central Plains through the upper Great Lakes as the system shifted eastward. Northwest winds gusting to 45 mph allowed for periods of blowing snow and ultimately reduced visibilities through the morning and afternoon. Localized blizzard conditions were possible in northeastern North Dakota at times as strong winds produced near white out conditions. Snowfall accumulations of up to 7 inches were anticipated from the Dakotas into Minnesota on Monday. Meanwhile, to the South, ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico streamed northward across the western and central Gulf Coasts, allowing showers to develop ahead of the aforementioned front in eastern Texas and the Lower Mississippi Valley. Out West, a Pacific frontal system approached the Pacific Northwest and northern California with rain showers and high elevation snow.

A major Winter storm tracked through the Southwest Wednesday, bringing heavy snow to the mountainous areas of Arizona and New Mexico. Winter Storm Warnings were posted in the area through Wednesday in anticipation of up to a foot of new snow by the time the storm departs the area.

Meanwhile, a tremendous amount of moisture streamed into the southern and central Plains and produced another of heavy snow. The heaviest snow fell in Oklahoma and Kansas, making travel difficult and canceling many events in the region. Winter Storm Warnings were also posted for much of the Plains that extend into Thursday. Lake effect snow fell on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario as cold air streamed over the lakes. Several inches of snow fell in many areas of western New York. The Northeast rose into the 20s and 30s, while the Southeast saw temperatures in the 40s in the north and into the 80s in Florida. The Northern Plains rose into the 0s and 10s, while the Northwest saw temperatures in the 30s and 40s.

Wintry weather continued to move through the country on Friday, as a strong winter storm moved northeastward from the Central Plains and into the Great Lakes. The system created a frontal boundary that kicked up moderate to heavy snow showers across the Upper Midwest and into the Great Lakes. Snowfall totals ranged from 3 to 5 inches in most areas, with isolated amounts over 7 inches in Iowa and southern Minnesota. At the same time, a warm front extended eastward from this system and brought snow showers up the Ohio River Valley, into the Northeast. Snowfall totals in these areas remained less than 3 inches for these areas. Winter weather advisories have been issued from Minnesota through Michigan, and Ohio, into New York and Pennsylvania. To the south, a cold front extended southward from this system and kicked up more shower and thunderstorm activity across the Southeast from the Lower Mississippi River Valley through the Carolinas and Virginias. Some of these storms turned severe with heavy rains and strong winds. Nickel to quarter size hail was reported in Cranfield and Kingston, Mississippi. Meanwhile out West, a low pressure system that moved into British Columbia from the Gulf of Alaska pushed a frontal boundary into the Pacific Northwest. This kicked up heavy rain and high elevations snow across Washington and Oregon, and moved into the Intermountain West Friday afternoon and evening.

 

24^th-28^th…The strong storm system of the West moved east to northeastward across the Southern Plains on Monday with plenty of precipitation. As the system trekked across the northern tier of Texas and met with ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, heavy rain and ongoing thunderstorms developed ahead of the low as well as ahead and along an associated cold front, from central and eastern Texas and Oklahoma into the Lower and Mid-Mississippi River Valleys. Additional heavy rain and thunderstorms also formed across the Southeast near the Gulf Coast as an associated warm front lifted northward across the Gulf Coast. Conditions across the Central and Eastern Gulf Coast States were favorable for severe storms and possibly rotating storms with threats of tornadoes and hail events. As of this afternoon, 1 tornado was spotted in Franklin County, Florida, while over a handful of quarter to lime sized hail (1.00 to 2.00 inches in diameter) events were reported with minor property damage near the Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas and in southern Louisiana. Meanwhile, colder temperatures on the northern and western sides of this storm supported heavy snow development from areas of northern Texas into Kansas. Blizzard conditions developed from the Texas Panhandle through central Oklahoma and into southwestern Kansas as snow increased across the region through the day and strong winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 55 mph created lowered visibilities to near white out conditions, snow drifts of up to 5 feet, and ultimately dangerous travel conditions. Snow accumulation in these areas were expected to range from 3 to 8 inches in the western Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, 8 to 15 inches across the central and eastern Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, and 6 to 12 inches in central Oklahoma and southwestern Kansas with locally higher amounts of 16 to 20 inches possible. Elsewhere in the nation, a Pacific cold front moved through the Northwest with cool onshore flow on Monday, bringing rain and high elevation snow to the Pacific Northwest, parts of northern California, Northern Intermountain West, and Northern Rockies.

A strong storm continued moving through the eastern half of the country Wednesday as it moved from the Ohio Valley into the Great Lakes. This storm carried significant moisture northward with it, and produced widespread snow from Iowa through the Northeast. There were reports of 6 foot snow drifts in Wisconsin as the freshly fallen snow was blown around by strong winds that accompanied the storm. Some of the precipitation associated with the storm fell as rain along coastal areas of New England. The aforementioned storm represented the only significant storm in the country on Wednesday. Elsewhere, mostly dry conditions fell from the West Coast through the Plains. The one exception to this was some high elevation snow from Colorado through Montana. California continued its dry streak during a season that has seen record low amounts of precipitation for the first two months of the year. A big change is in store for the middle of the country for the remainder of the week as a cold, Arctic air mass is set to plunge into the middle of the country. The Northeast rose into the 30s and 40s, while the Southeast saw temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The Northern Plains rose into the 20s and 30s, while the Northwest saw temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

Jim G. Munley, jr.
http://www.jimmunleywx.com