What To Watch Fore(cast) - Mar. 21-27

Highlights:

A tale of two tracks: The Northern and Southern US are divided by two different storm tracks through most of the week. This will hinder the development of a significant storm system until the end of the week, when the southern track will diminish and give way to a potential Midwest/Mid Atlantic Soaker System over the weekend. As a result, minimal severe weather is expected this week, as energy divided cannot stand.

Winter un-canceled up north: Snowfall is expected two or three times this week in the Midwest and Northeast as a series of low pressure systems move through the region.

The eastern half of the country will return to near-normal temperatures this week, with a ridge of high pressure creating above average temperatures across a large portion of the western half of the country. Areas with sunny skies will continue to be a few degrees warmer than the model forecasts due to the lack of vegetation across the country.

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Discussion:

The warm, sunny streak in the Southeast and Mid Atlantic will be coming to an end over the next couple of days as a low pressure system currently in the middle of the country slowly progresses north and east. Significant snowfall behind this storm will diminish as the storm cuts off and loses it's source of cold air. Thunderstorms will push through the Southeast on Sunday and will continue into the Mid Atlantic Monday. Isolated areas of significant rainfall are possible throughout the Mid Atlantic and Northeast, which could lead to minor flooding. The higher terrain of the Southern Appalachians could see several inches of snow accumulation Monday, with significant snowfall of 6-12 inches possible across northern New England.

A weak system will cut across the Desert Southwest Monday, which will slowly drift eastward across the southern half of the country. This system will get a sliver of energy from the north, but not enough to make a significant storm. It will bring rain and garden-variety thunderstorms into the Southern Plains Wednesday and Thursday. The storm will lose it's intensity as it progresses eastward into the Southeast, with scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms expected on Friday.

Up north, a low pressure system will be moving into the Pacific Northwest Sunday, which will skirt along the US/Canada border and arrive in Eastern Canada Wednesday. Nothing significant is expected to happen with this storm. Another low pressure system is expected to form from the trailing front, which could bring snow showers into the Midwest and Northeast Thursday and Friday.

Another Pacific Northwest system will work it's way over the US Thursday, which will drop south into the Central Plains Saturday and move into the Midwest over the weekend. This storm is showing potential for rain and isolated thunderstorms in the Southeast, moderate rainfall in the Midwest and Mid Atlantic, and will work with a cut-off low in Canada to provide moderate snowfall across the northern Midwest and Northeast.