Soggy Stretch Expected for the East

Many eastern U.S. residents hoping for a bit of snow to help boost the holiday spirit will have to wait a bit longer. A series of storm systems moving into mild air will dump heavy rain from the Mid-South to the Ohio Valley this weekend. The good news is that the moisture will help alleviate growing precipitation deficits.

The same weather maker that brought up to a foot of rain to the West Coast in the last few weeks is finally making progress into the East, but unfortunately at the expense of the weekend.

A strong high pressure ridge off the East Coast is breaking down, allowing the front to ease into the Ohio Valley. Given the warm southerly flow on the high pressure`s western flank, moisture will get picked up from the Gulf of Mexico and squeezed out as heavy rain, rather than snow, for places like Little Rock, Ark., Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh this weekend.

The first moisture wave is already producing rain from the northern Mid-Atlantic to the Tennessee Valley. Sunday, more showers will pelt the same places with rainfall expanding farther south into Arkansas and Missouri.

A stronger upper-level low will then move into the Great Lakes and force the front east by early next week. One last round of downpours and even a few embedded thunderstorms will blast the Mid-South to Ohio Valley Monday before drier sweeps in Tuesday.

One-to-2 inches of rain are likely through early Tuesday before the front moves to the East Coast. This rain will help chip away at the abnormally dry and moderate drought areas across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys and Mid-South. However, a lot more rain than what will fall is needed to erase the yearly precipitation deficits of 15.50 inches in Memphis, Tenn., and 6 inches for Cincinnati.

Just occasional showers will keep the Mid-Atlantic damp this weekend with a better chance at a few heavier downpours Monday into early Tuesday as the front slides in from the west. Still, only a half-inch of rain is expected through early next week.

The only areas where temperatures will be cold enough for a few inches of snow this weekend are across the Great Lakes, Upper Mississippi Valley and northern Plains. Click here for more on potential weekend snow accumulation.