Happy St. Patrick's Day!.
THE STORM WAS NOT FINISHED -- Although the storm that generated the heavy snows across portions of New England on Monday had moved northeastward across the Canadian Maritimes, effects of the storm lingered through Tuesday across northern New England. As of late Tuesday night, the low pressure center was situated over the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A reasonably strong pressure gradient remained across northern Maine, which meant windy conditions. Strong northwesterly winds that gusted to greater than 40 mph produced blowing snow that reduced visibilities across northern Maine.
Snow continued through Monday night into Tuesday morning, with several locations in Maine receiving as much as 20 inches of new snow. New daily snowfall records were set on Monday at Caribou, ME with 5.8 inches of snow, Bridgeport, CT with 6.0 inches and Newark, NJ with 2.6 inches.
UNSEASONABLY WARM CONDITIONS ACROSS THE PLAINS -- Tuesday afternoon high temperatures across the Plains were as much 25 degrees above the long-term average high temperatures for mid March. Record high temperatures were set on Tuesday afternoon across Nebraska, at North Platte (81 degrees) Valentine, NE (81 degrees), Hastings, (76 degrees), and Alliance (71 degrees); at Burlington, CO (77 degrees), Dickinson, ND (68 degrees) and at Marquette, MI (42 degrees).
Several factors contributed to the unseasonably warm weather. Sunny conditions helped allow the temperatures to climb especially in regions with no snow cover. Southwesterly to westerly winds circulated around the western to northern flank of a large sprawling high pressure centered over the Florida Peninsula. As the winds turned to a more westerly or downslope direction, they essentially became Chinook type winds, with the air descending across the Plains compressionally heated. On Tuesday, wind gusts exceeded 70 mph at Billings, MT.
A SOUTHWESTERN STORM -- The storm system that brought rain to southern California on Monday continued eastward across southern Arizona on Tuesday. By late evening, system contained two low pressure centers, with one located over extreme southwestern New Mexico and a second one found over the Four Corners area of northeastern Arizona. An area of precipitation associated with this system was remained over a large portion of Arizona, with some scattered areas detected in southern California, Nevada and southwestern New Mexico. Earlier in the afternoon, thundersnow was reported at Flagstaff, AZ.
The southern low pressure cell is forecast to continue moving eastward, reaching southeastern New Mexico by dawn on Wednesday before reaching west Texas. Light snow was expected to continue falling at higher elevations across the Mogollon Rim of Arizona, south to the mountains near Tucson and into western New Mexico through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. Light rainshowers could spread eastward across the Texas Panhandle. As the storm moves eastward, a more southeasterly flow of warm moist Gulf air is expected to spread into Texas. Consequently, southern and central Texas should experience a slight risk of severe thunderstorms later on Wednesday.
A NORTHERN STORM -- A low pressure system moved eastward across the northern Plains on Tuesday evening. Its position was along the North and South Dakota border near the Missouri River. A warm front extended eastward, while a cold front trailed to the southwest across the Rockies to the Great Basin. A small area of precipitation, primarily in the form of rain was located to the north of the system in North Dakota. Some light snow was located in the colder air along the Canadian border.
Strong winds have accompanied this storm, with winds gusting to more than 80 mph in Wyoming and to at least 60 mph in eastern Montana and the western Dakotas. Wind advisories have been posted for Nebraska and South Dakota, extending into Wednesday morning.
This system is expected to move rapidly eastward, reaching northern Wisconsin by Wednesday morning. Light snow is forecast to fall across the northern Plains from northeastern Montana to the Arrowhead of northern Minnesota . The cold front is anticipated to push southeastward across the Plains. Colder air behind the front should cause temperatures to return to more typical conditions after several days of unseasonably warm conditions.
ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM FOR THE NORTHWEST -- While high pressure was situated across the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday night, a new storm system was moving north across the eastern Pacific Ocean toward the British Columbia coast north of Vancouver Island. A trailing cold front from this system was expected to bring more rain and gusty winds to the Washington and Oregon coast beginning before dawn on Wednesday.
TEMPERATURE EXTREMES ACROSS THE LOWER 48 -- On Tuesday, the lowest temperature reported in the continental U.S. was 6 degrees at Elkins, WV while Tuesday's high was 85 degrees at Laredo, TX.
ALASKAN WEATHER -- Multiple weak and diffuse low pressure systems dominated the Alaskan weather map on Tuesday afternoon. One low pressure area was located near Seward, accompanied by a front that extended southeastward into the Gulf of Alaska. Farther south, a large low pressure system was located in the southern Gulf of Alaska. Another low pressure system was located over the Bering Sea east of St. Paul Island, with a front that extended southwestward, crossing the Aleutians at Dutch Harbor. Several weak low pressure areas stretched across northern and eastern Alaska. Numerous stations across the state from Nome to Petersburg reported snow on Tuesday afternoon. St Paul Island reported snow, freezing fog and blowing snow, with northwest winds that gusted to 40 mph, resulting in wind-chill equivalent temperatures reaching 33 degrees below zero. A blizzard warning remained in effect for the island through Tuesday night.
The lowest overnight temperature in the state on Tuesday morning was 22 degrees below zero at Savoonga. The highest temperature during midafternoon was 42 degrees at Annette.
HAWAIIAN WEATHER --The northeast trade winds became northeasterly and increased in speed as a shear line, representing the southern end of a midlatitude cold front, approached the islands from the northwest. Clouds associated with this shear line was expected to reach the islands about dawn on Wednesday. The next high pressure cell to the northwest of the islands should move eastward, reaching a point directly north of Hawaii on Wednesday. Stronger trade winds are expected by Thursday.
Ocean swell generated from a storm in the Bering Sea moved toward the southeast and reached the northwest coast of Kauai on Tuesday afternoon, with the potential for producing between 8 to 12 foot surf on the northwest facing coasts of the islands through Wednesday. Small craft and high surf advisories were posted for state waters.
From the files of the Aviation Weather Center, Kansas City, MO and Intellicast
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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 1999, The American Meteorological Society.