Dave Holder

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<p>A ridge of high pressure has brought unseasonable warmth to the western and central U.S. this week with temperatures running about 10-20° above average Monday through Wednesday! On Thursday, December 7 the temperature climbed into the 50's and 60's, melting any snow in sight! Those wishing for a white Christmas will have to keep on wishing and being patient during this warm weather spell.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot 2023-12-07 164954-1701993006310.jpg">Temperatures start to fall on Friday after peaking on Thursday in the North Central Plains. Temperatures fall into the 40s and eventually into the 30s for the High Plains. Temperatures will take a bit longer to fall in the Great Lakes region, eventually cooling off back towards average by Sunday.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/3 day plains-1701980839283.png">Meanwhile, the ridge of high pressure shifts east, and along with it the opportunity for record temperatures. Temperatures region-wide will jump into the 50s and even the 60s, with records possible from Michigan to Maine, and down to our Nation's Capital this weekend!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/NE highs-1701896653620.png"></p>

Record Heat Shifts East This Weekend

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<p><em>Above - heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada caused local officials to conduct tire and chain checks before vehicles traveled into the high country. Courtesy CalTrans.</em></p><p>Steady rain for the northern California coast and mountain snowfall will begin to wind down overnight as energy pushes into southern Idaho, Utah, and Colorado, bringing snow to the Intermountain West through the start of the weekend. Most activity should wind down by Friday night in Colorado and the Front Range of Wyoming.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/mountainsnow-1702009108849.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>Snowfall rates of up to 1/2" per hour could be possible at times, reducing visibility and causing slick travel on I-80, I-70, and other mountain highways. Snowfall accumulations will be most impressive through the Tetons of Wyoming, where upwards of half a foot of snow could be possible into the end of this workweek. Again, this is great for ski resorts but will make traveling tough!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot 2023-12-07 212026-1702009295371.png">The Centennial State's ski resorts will also see beneficial snow, with some of the highest amounts topping up to 9" in the Steamboat Springs area!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot 2023-12-07 164536-1701992749671.jpg"></p>

Heavy Snow From the Sierras to the Rockies

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Kara has always been passionate about weather and knew from an early age that she wanted to become a meteorologist. Living in different regions of the country and experiencing weather events ranging from ice storms to tornadoes drove her to pursue a bachelor's degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. Throughout college, storm chasing became a regular event for Kara, where she saw first-hand the power of the atmosphere. Kara graduated cum laude from OU and decided to further her meteorology education with a Master's degree from Mississippi State University. The deadly April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak struck while Kara was studying at MSU; her first “Dixie Alley” tornado event and an up close glimpse into the destruction of the storms she so closely studied. Her broadcast career began in Elvis’ birthplace, Tupelo, Mississippi, where she earned her Certified Broadcast Meteorologist seal from the American Meteorological Society. Kara's career has included coverage of all types of severe weather including tornado events, flooding and tropical systems across multiple southern states. Recently she helped cover the 2020 Easter Sunday deadly tornado outbreak in southeast Mississippi. In her free time, you can find Kara outdoors exploring new areas with her mini poodle,Truffles. Kara is also an avid runner and frequently races in 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons. Say hi to Kara on <a href="https://twitter.com/wxkara">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/karajameswx">Facebook</a>!

Kara James

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<p>Rain is on the way for the East Coast this weekend as a frontal boundary moves north from the Deep South, tapping into significant moisture. This front will mostly produce rain, but there will be enough cold air and moisture in place in New England to change the rain to snow for mostly high elevation areas (above).</p><p>The rain, along with isolated severe storms, starts for the Midwest and Mid-South Saturday night but becomes much more widespread by Sunday morning. The entire frontal boundary then pushes into the Northeast, with rain changing over to snow for high elevation spots overnight Sunday into Monday. </p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/12-07 RSE RNE Storms-1702008910839.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>Pockets of rain  3"+ are possible in Tennessee, Kentucky and western North Carolina. This is much needed rain for the drought! Heavy rain will also be possible through eastern Pennsylvania, northern New York and western New England with 1-3" expected. We will be concerned for this rain to freeze over as temperature drop Sunday night into Monday.</p><p>The heaviest snow will fall on the backside of the low, mostly through the second half of the day on Sunday into Monday. Our higher elevations of the Adirondacks and mountains of New England will be the focus for the heaviest snowfall but a couple inches of fresh snow will be possible through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Appalachia.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot 2023-12-07 163803-1701992401409.jpg">The other factor will be strong winds, especially along the immediate coastline from Maine to North Carolina.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot 2023-12-07 164016-1701992435959.jpg">Winds could gust upwards of 40 mph at times Sunday into Monday so be sure to secure anything that can blow away in the wind.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/winds-1701966541651.png"></p>

Messy Weekend Forecast for the East Coast

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<p>Storms are returning for yet another weekend in the Deep South and while the severe threat looks to be most intense on Saturday (above), the Storm Prediction Center [SPC] has highlighted a risk on Friday night for eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas as well. The SPC has been highlighting Saturday's severe weather threat since the beginning of the week, indicating confidence in the threat of strong storms.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/spc fri-1701980593451.png">Friday's storm risk looks to be conditional, meaning certain ingredients must be present in order for severe storms to form. Any storms that fire up will have large hail as the main threat. The Baron model (below) depicts a few strong storms around midnight in Arkansas. Saturday's risk will include all threats from severe storms (wind, hail, &amp; tornadoes) but will be primarily in the late afternoon and evening, with weakening happening overnight into Sunday.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/12-07 RSC Stormz-1702009273586.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>Some storms may persist to the east into the overnight hours, with a dusting of snow not out of the question in Middle Tennessee as cold air moves in behind the front.</p><p>In addition to the severe weather threat, heavy rain could cause flooding. Most spots east of the Mississippi River will get at least an inch of rain, but parts of Mississippi through the Carolinas could get 3-4" of rain with locally higher totals possible. This amount of rain over parched soils could cause runoff, ponding on the roadways and rising creeks and rivers. The Weather Prediction Center [WPC] has highlighted much of the Deep South with a low-end flood risk Saturday.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot 2023-12-07 164640-1701992813078.jpg">The South could certainly use the rain, where extreme and exceptional drought conditions cover much of the area. Heavy rain over the first week of December put a small dent in some of the worst of the drought conditions, but persistent drought remains widespread in the South and Southeast.</p>

Severe Storm Threat Returns This Weekend

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<div>Lucy is originally from the Boston area but has spent the last four years forecasting and living in Colorado! She stayed in the northeast for her education, graduating Summa Cum Laude from SUNY Oswego with a B.S. in Meteorology. Just a few days after graduation, she made the cross country move to Colorado Springs, CO to begin her career at KKTV, the CBS affiliate. Lucy has covered historic blizzards, tornadoes, windstorms, the largest wildfires in Colorado state history and dust storms ... they truly "get it all" in Colorado! Lucy is excited to forecast on a national level and continue her passion of explaining the science behind the weather!</div>
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Lucy Bergemann

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<p>The Northwestern United States has been hammered by wave after wave of rain and snowfall over the last few days, causing rivers to run high and flooding around cities and recent area burn scars. We reached major flood stage and set a new record for river height on the Stillaguamish River in northern Washington of 21.34" which caused the river to overflow its banks into the city of Arlington.</p><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1732595794195145031" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1732595794195145031"></div><p>The reason for the high running rivers is due to a couple of reasons: first we had heavy rain, second we saw record warm temperatures across the PNW which caused a rapid melt of recent snowfall in the Cascades into rivers, creeks and streams. Colder air is coming back into play for the end of the week and weekend so we anticipate snowpack to build back up and flooding to become less of a concern.</p><h2>Today's System</h2><p>The heavy rain and snow will start to gradually taper off as the day progresses. It won't completely disappear for everyone, but the moisture will become a bit more scattered compared to a steady river of it. Colder air started to make its way into the PNW by early Thursday and will stick around, at least, into Friday. Even though snow is tapering through the day today we still have moisture packed air which will slam into the mountains resulting in high elevation snowfall upwards of 8" possible for the southern Cascades.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/2-1701992953394.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><h2>Weekend Wave</h2><p>Unfortunately, the wet and unsettled pattern continues for the Pacific Northwest as yet another wave of energy moves onshore late Friday night and continues through Saturday. We will have the opportunity for more rain, and this time snow, as temperatures drop starting Thursday and continue to be cold enough in the high country to support mountain snow.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/2023-12-07 07-42-47-1701960285757.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>In terms of additional snowfall Friday into Saturday, we could see 6-12", depending on elevation. In combination with the snow from Thursday into Friday our mountain peaks could pick up on a foot plus of fresh snowfall. This is good news, especially for the Cascades, where snowpack has significantly melted due to recent warm temperatures and rainfall.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/new snow-1701960256890.png"></p>

Steve Glazier

First Round of Rain Dies Down, Next Ahead for PNW

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<p>The next winter storm is taking shape for the Northern Plains on Friday and Saturday as upper-level energy moves in from the West Coast. The biggest impact from this storm system looks to be strong winds which could gust upwards of 50 mph through the Dakotas creating blizzard-like conditions. On the warmer side of this storm system, there is the opportunity for storms in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/severe-threat-returns-saturday"><strong><em><u>Deep South on Saturday</u></em></strong></a>.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/setup-1701894079439.png">A frontal boundary moves across the Plains on Thursday, bringing much cooler air compared to the record-breaking highs we have seen as of late. This cooler air will set the stage for snow showers across the Dakotas through much of the day Friday. In addition, winds will be quite strong, adding to the possibility of blowing snow and reduced visibility. </p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/northplainssnow-1701922996837.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>The heaviest snow will be for the Dakotas where a widespread 1-3" will be possible. Again, the wind will create pockets of blowing and drifting snow leading to hazardous travel along I-90 and I-94.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot 2023-12-06 212347-1701923050446.png"></p><p></p>

Windy Winter System for the Plains

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<p>Our first system is a "Clipper", a fast-moving rain and snowmaker, and slides through the Midwest today after brining light snow to Minnesota and Wisconsin overnight. Rain and snow will hit the Appalachian mountains by midday. Wet weather will continue in the region through midday Wednesday with mostly rain showers for the lower elevations and snow for the highest peaks.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/2023-12-05 07-49-34-1701787822908.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>As a result of the incoming winter weather, winter weather advisories are in effect from Tuesday night through Wednesday morning for the spine of the Appalachian mountains in West Virginia to account for 3-6" of snowfall. Most of this will be light snowfall totals and will have minor impacts.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2023/12/alerts-1701787720423.png"></p>

Quick Moving System Brings Snow to Appalachia

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Tropical Storm Watches are now in effect for portions of the Gulf from Louisiana east into parts of the western Florida panhandle. A Tropical Storm Watch means that there is a chance of a Tropical Storm, with winds from 39 to 73 miles per hour, hitting a specified area within 48 hours. It goes from roughly New Orleans east to coastal Alabama.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-96423 size-large" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/09/Capture-1-728x408.jpg" alt="Tropical Storm Watches In Effect Along The Gulf" width="728" height="408" />

This disturbance is currently located in the Bahamas and is known as PTC (Potential Tropical Cyclone) 7. As of now, it is a disorganized area of storms that is moving west. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting a high chance of further development over the next 5 days as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico by late Monday.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-96425" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/09/ezgif.com-video-to-gif.gif" alt="Tropical Storm Watches In Effect Along The Gulf" width="736" height="415" />

Based on upper-level steering, this disturbance will track WNW into the Gulf by Monday and continue a track along the Central Gulf Coast by Tuesday and Wednesday.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-96426" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/09/ezgif.com-video-to-gif-1.gif" alt="Tropical Storm Watches In Effect Along The Gulf" width="733" height="413" />

While further formation is expected, the main concern at this time is still heavy rain and gusty wind. Rain will be the focus as this system brings anywhere from 4"-6" of tropical downpours by early-mid week.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-96427" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/09/ezgif.com-video-to-gif-2.gif" alt="Tropical Storm Watches In Effect Along The Gulf" width="730" height="411" />

This is a developing story and forecast changes are still likely so please keep checking back for updates.

Meteorologist Merry Matthews