A storm system digging into the West will bring unseasonably early snowfall to the mountains of southern California and snow to the Rockies before swinging east and bringing the threat of severe weather to parts of the Plains.
Winter Alerts
Snowfall Forecast
California Snow
A cold area of low pressure in the upper atmosphere will continue diving south through the West Coast, reaching southern California Wednesday evening before turning northeastward across the Four Corners region Thursday and into the Northern Plains on Friday.
The Pacific Northwest has already seen rain and high-elevation snow from this feature. This activity will dive south into California and Nevada on Wednesday, bringing rain to the lower elevations of those states.
For Los Angeles, this could become the first measurable precipitation (.01 inch of rain or more) since July 26. In fact, don't be surprised to see a few thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon and evening in Southern California, possibly producing some small hail.
The cold air in the upper atmosphere will bring light snow to the Sierra Nevada, generally above 6,000 feet. Even farther south, the mountains of southern California could see some rare early-October snowfall.
Snow levels should fall to around 5,500 feet by late Wednesday, allowing a few inches of the white stuff to accumulate above those levels through Wednesday evening. At Big Bear Lake, where official weather recordkeeping began in 1960, the earliest 1-inch snowfall on record was Oct. 10 back in 1985. If at least an inch of snow falls Wednesday, that record will be broken by a day.
Wind Threat
Mountain Snow
Rockies Snow, Wind
As the storm makes a hard left turn and swings northeast toward the Rockies, it will bring snow to higher mountain elevations of Utah, northern Arizona, far northern New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, southern Montana and eastern Idaho.
Low pressure will then intensify over the Plains and track roughly from eastern Colorado northeast through the Dakotas. While this storm track is very similar to Winter Storm Atlas, this system will not draw down as much cold air from Canada.
As a result, snow will have a difficult time reaching the lower elevations (say, below 6,000 feet) east of the Rockies. Places such as Casper, Wyo., andRapid City, S.D., which saw crippling snowfall during Atlas, will likely see rain or a rain/snow mix from this storm system.
The rain, falling on areas that saw up to 5 feet of snow from Atlas, could potentially lead to some minor flooding problems in eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota.
Despite the lower threat of wintry weather for many, winds will still be a factor due to the strength of the low-pressure system.
Strong south to southwest winds Wednesday afternoon may lead to areas of blowing dust in parts of Arizona, the mountains and deserts of southern California, and southern Utah.
Thursday afternoon, strong winds will spread from the Four Corners of northeast Arizona and New Mexico into the High Plains of eastern Colorado, western Kansas, southwest Nebraska, and the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, with gusts from 40-50 mph likely. Areas of blowing dust and reduced visibilities are likely in these areas, as well.
(WIND ALERTS: Southwest)
Severe Threat
In addition to the threat of rain, mountain snow, and gusty winds, there will likely be some severe thunderstorms on the High Plains Thursday. For more details on this threat, click the link below.
(MORE: Severe Weather Threat Thursday)
This storm does not currently appear strong enough to warrant a name. However, if that should change, it would receive the next name on The Weather Channel 2013-2014 list, which is Boreas.
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