Daily Weather Briefing for Thursday, March 9, 2017

NATIONAL OVERVIEW

...Heavy snow expected from the Northern Rockies into the Northern Plains over the next couple of days...

...Heavy rain over parts of the Pacific Northwest today...

...Scattered showers and thunderstorms possible across the Southern Plains and deep South over the next few days...

...Snow possible over parts of the Northern Mid-Atlantic, Central Appalachians, and Northern Ohio Valley this evening into Friday...

A persistent east/west front across the Northwest will be followed by cold front moving onshore on Friday morning. A plume of moisture associated with the boundary will aid in producing rain over parts of Northern California and Pacific Northwest through Friday. In addition, snow will develop over the higher elevations of the Northern Rockies into parts of the Northern High Plains through Friday morning. Snow will then taper off across the Rockies and move farther southeast into the Central Plains. Winter Weather Warnings and Advisories are in effect for much of the Northern Rockies and portions of the Northern Plains for the expected heavy snow.

Meanwhile, warm moist flow from the Gulf of Mexico will interact with a fast moving cold front pushing southward across the eastern U.S. This will allow for scattered showers and thunderstorms over parts of the Southern Plains today, expanding northeastward into parts of the Ohio Valley by the afternoon/evening, and across the southeast tonight into Friday. Furthermore, snow and rain will develop over the northern Ohio Valley expanding into the Central Appalachians and Northern Mid-Atlantic overnight tonight into Friday morning thanks to return flow off of the Atlantic and falling temperatures behind the cold front.

Elsewhere, a secondary push of colder northeast flow across the Upper Great Lakes will aid in triggering lake induced snow showers over parts of the area overnight tonight into Friday. This airmass will spread eastward and aid in producing snow showers downwind of the Lower Great Lakes by Friday. High pressure will be in control across much of California and the Southwest, keeping conditions dry over the next few days.


LOCAL OUTLOOK

Above-normal temperatures will persist until a cold front crosses the region on Friday, ushering in a period of below-normal temperatures that will last through early next week. Meanwhile, low-pressure over the Deep South will bring precipitation to the area late Saturday into Sunday. Another cold front is expected to cross the area on Tuesday dropping temperatures well below normal again for the second half of the week.


THREE DAY OUTLOOK




TODAY

Sunny with highs near the mid to upper 60s. Calm winds early shifting to come from the southwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.


TONIGHT

Increasing clouds with lows near the lower 40s and winds out of the southwest calming before midnight. 30% chance of rain with rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch expected.




FRIDAY

Mostly cloudy early with decreasing clouds with highs near the lower 60s. Winds will start out being light from the northwest early, then increasing to15 to 20 mph beginning around 10 am with gusts as high as 25 to 30 mph between 11 am and 4 pm as a wind field passes through the county. Scattered power outages may result from downed limbs. 30% chance of rain with rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch expected.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear with lows near freezing. Winds out of the northwest becoming calm after midnight.



SATURDAY

Mostly sunny with highs near the mid 50s. 30% chance of rain, mainly after 4 pm.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Mostly cloudy with lows near freezing. 70% chance of precipitation. Rain is expected before 2 am, then rain and snow until 5 am and mostly snow after 5 am. Snow accumulations of less than half an inch is expected. (The ground will be too warm for a significant winter event).


HAZARDS



Hazardous weather is not expected today. The National Weather Service is calling for a winter weather event this weekend that may impact Macon County. It is my opinion that this event will be to the north and east of us and that we'll not be impacted by this event because most of it will melt, leaving us with perhaps half an inch of snow. The Hazardous Weather Outlook that has been issued for Macon County is posted below:

..SATURDAY...Winter weather possible. A cold front will bring much colder air to the region late this week. An area of low pressure is expected to develop across the Deep South over the weekend and spread moisture into western North Carolina beginning Saturday night. While precipitation would probably start out as rain, temperatures may fall enough Saturday night to support a transition to snow across the mountains and possibly across the northern piedmont along and north of I-40. At least light accumulations are possible. However, forecast confidence is very low at this time.


..SUNDAY...Winter weather possible. Chances for accumulating snow will continue across the mountains into early Sunday.

As always, you can check to see what advisories, watches and warnings are in effect for Macon County by visiting http://is.gd/MACONWARN


MACON CALENDAR

If you have an event you wish to be added to this calendar, please send the information, along with a flyer of photo, to editor@maconmedia.com
There is no charge for civic, educational or non profit groups.

BENEFIT 4 BRITTANY & DIANE

Saturday, March 25 at 5 PM - 9 PM
at Cartoogechaye Elementary School

Learn more about it on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/1271875169584301/





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Published at 4:22 am on March 09, 2017

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