The Midwest gets its turn this week as a major storm will bring heavy snow to the Northern Great Lakes on Wednesday-Thursday. A second storm is also expected over the weekend. The deepest snow totals over the next 5 days are projected over the UP of Michigan, with localized totals of 2-3+ feet possible.

 

Forecast for Wednesday (Nov 26):

A strong storm will move across the Upper Midwest with rain quickly changing over to snow in the wake of a powerful cold front. 

In the West, a weak storm will favor light to moderate snow across the Northern Rockies. Snow will also fall over the Cascades and PNW, but warmer air will lead to precipitation ending as rain at some ski areas.

Forecast for Thursday (Nov 27):

Snow will linger across the Upper Midwest with lake effect zones on the downwind side of the Great Lakes seeing the highest totals. Light snow will also fall across Northern New England.

In the West, another weak storm will arrive with moderate snow favoring Washington and Southern BC, while light snow will also fall across the Northern U.S. Rockies. 

Forecast for Friday (Nov 28):

A strong cold front will move from north to south through the Rockies, with snow developing along the front and favoring Montana and the Northern Rockies. 

In the East, an unsettled northwest flow will favor lake effect snow on the downwind side of the Great Lakes, and across the Adirondacks and Northern New England.

Forecast for Saturday (Nov 29):

In the West, a cold front will continue to work its way from north to south across the Rockies with generally light snow expected. 

Another storm will move across the Midwest, with previous model projections (at the time this map was produced) indicating that the Southern Great Lakes would be favored. But we've seen some northward trends on recent model runs, so there is some uncertainty on which areas of the Midwest will see the most snow.

Snow may also begin across New England by Saturday evening.

Forecast for Sunday (Nov 30):

In the West, an area of low pressure will develop over the Southern Rockies as the cold front slows down with its southward progression. This will lead to an increase in snowfall over portions of the Southern Rockies, possibly favoring the San Juan Range in Southwest Colorado.

To the East, snow will likely continue across the Midwest, while New England and New York could potentially be looking at a rain/snow mix depending on the storm track. 

Outlook for Mon (Dec 1) to Fri (Dec 5):

Next week, the pattern continues to look unfavorable for strong, consistent, widespread snowfall across the West due to a strong ridge of high pressure along the West Coast.

A split flow pattern is possible, though, with storms developing north and south of the ridge. In the Southwest, we are seeing some signs of possible storms that could potentially favor Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern Colorado.

To the north, there are also signs of storms sliding into the Canadian Rockies from the north, but temperatures are also expected to trend warmer across this region, which could lead to wetter snow quality.

In the Upper Midwest and the East, a much more favorable pattern is expected with below-average temperatures and a northerly-focused storm track that should at least favor semi-frequent snow shower events.

Looking further out, there are some hints of a more favorable pattern developing across the West as we head into the second week of December. But confidence is low this far out.

Thanks so much for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Next update on Friday (November 28).

Alan Smith 

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