Weather relief in store for Southwest into late-January
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jan 22, 2021 10:16 PM EDT
A much-needed change in the weather has begun over drought-stricken California and the southwestern United States, and AccuWeather meteorologists expect the pattern to last through much of the rest of January. Even though some relief is in store for the parched region, forecasters also warn that there could be some dangerous effects of a series of upcoming storms.
January is typically one of the wettest months of the year in the Southwest as storms from the Pacific Ocean impact the region frequently. Winter as a whole is considered to be the wet season, but the main storm track during much of the season so far has deflected storms farther north along the West Coast of the U.S. No significant precipitation has fallen across the central and southern parts of California and the deserts of the Southwest -- until this week.
This infrared image, taken prior to daybreak on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, shows a storm along the coast of Northern California, but already the next storm was visible over the northern Pacific Ocean. (CIRA at Colorado State/GOES-West)
A storm that developed off the coast of northwestern Mexico this week helped to change the weather pattern by setting up a southward dip in the jet stream along the Pacific coast. The plunge in these high-altitude winds will direct storms farther to the south than recent weeks, including in many areas that have been bypassed by moisture thus far this season. This pattern flip will not only hold on into this weekend but many days beyond that also.
But as the stormy pattern began, a round of high winds blasted much of California Monday through Tuesday night, and strong winds continued to buffet Southern California Wednesday, raising the fire risk. Additional bouts of gusty winds are likely to occur, but these should be weaker than the event from the first half of this week. Winds may change direction rather quickly due to the frequent nature of the upcoming storms.
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The forecast pattern is expected to unleash multiple storms along the Pacific coast through at least Saturday, Jan. 30. After the 30th, storms will continue to roll in but may tend to focus from Northern California through the Northwest states, more so than Southern California and the Southwest region.
"The storms that will roll in every two to four days are likely to drop southward to a certain point along the Pacific coast before taking a turn inland," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
One such storm began to deliver rain and snow in northern California late Thursday night and will spin inland during Friday and Friday night.
Areas that didn't pick up rain and snow with the midweek storm are likely to get precipitation with this next storm, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ryan Adamson. The midweek storm mainly dampened the southernmost parts of California, as well as parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
Soaking rain is expected to spread southward along the coast of California and reach the Los Angeles basin on Friday. Scattered showers will erupt across interior areas of Southern California and the deserts of Arizona, but rainfall amounts will be lower than those unleashed at midweek. Rainfall amounts with the late-week storm are expected to range from 0.10 to 0.25 of an inch following an inch.
The storm will produce several inches of accumulating snow over the mountains, including the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch ranges from Friday to Saturday, as well as the Rockies from southern Montana to northern New Mexico from Saturday to Sunday. Even though a tremendous amount of snow is not anticipated for Donner Pass, California, along Interstate 80, enough is likely to fall to make roads slippery. Salt Lake City is expected to receive a 3- to 6-inch snowfall from the storm this weekend.
As the main part of this storm pushes inland, a smaller piece is likely to drop southward along the Southern California coast. Some snow showers can create slippery conditions over Tejon and Cajon passes on Saturday, and rain showers could dampen lower elevations of the Southland.
Yet another storm -- the second in a parade -- is forecast to take aim at the West Coast from Sunday to Monday, before it moves inland late Monday into Tuesday.
This second storm is likely to be more organized and stronger than the first storm.
"The storm from late Sunday to Tuesday is likely to bring heavy snow, perhaps on the order of 1-2 feet, over the Sierra Nevada and perhaps a few inches of snow over the Grapevine and over the high deserts in Southern California," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
This same storm is also likely to bring locally heavy snow to the mountains in Arizona and the Wasatch Range.
"Snow levels can dip to rather low levels throughout the Southwest with accumulating snow possible at intermediate elevations that usually dodge snow in the wintertime," Rayno said.
This second storm is the most likely of the series to bring rainfall that may be measured in inches, rather than tenths of inches to coastal areas of California and the potential for an inch of rain to the central valley area of the state.
A third storm may drop southward along the Pacific coast during the middle part of next week, although there is some question as to whether or not this system will turn inland or linger just offshore. Even if the center of the storm stays off the coast, very heavy rain may fall in the lower elevations of California. In the mountains of northern California and in the Sierra, several feet of snow are possible. The heavy rain and snow will be due to a potential atmospheric river.
Any of the storms can bring enough rain to saturate the soil enough to raise the risk of mudslides, but the second storm may come with a greater threat of these dangers than the first. The mudslide risk will be greatest in recent burn scar locations. Similarly, any of the storms can trigger brief urban flooding.
Rain accompanying the storms will lead to wet roads and slick travel conditions.
As each storm presses southward along the coast, the circulation around the systems will create gusty winds that will agitate seas. Periodic dangerous surf is in store. As battering waves will pound the coast, some coastal flooding and beach erosion are likely.
Over the high country of the Sierra Nevada to the Rockies, there is the potential for 1-3 feet of snow to fall as the pattern will persist until nearly the end of the month.
The stormy weather pattern will also act to suppress temperatures over the western third of the nation.
Temperatures are predicted to be held 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit below normal across the Southwest, with the greatest temperature departures possible in California. Normal highs range from 68 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles to 56 in San Francisco and 43 at Lake Tahoe. Las Vegas typically has a high of 58 late in January.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Winter Weather
Weather relief in store for Southwest into late-January
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jan 22, 2021 10:16 PM EDT
A much-needed change in the weather has begun over drought-stricken California and the southwestern United States, and AccuWeather meteorologists expect the pattern to last through much of the rest of January. Even though some relief is in store for the parched region, forecasters also warn that there could be some dangerous effects of a series of upcoming storms.
January is typically one of the wettest months of the year in the Southwest as storms from the Pacific Ocean impact the region frequently. Winter as a whole is considered to be the wet season, but the main storm track during much of the season so far has deflected storms farther north along the West Coast of the U.S. No significant precipitation has fallen across the central and southern parts of California and the deserts of the Southwest -- until this week.
This infrared image, taken prior to daybreak on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, shows a storm along the coast of Northern California, but already the next storm was visible over the northern Pacific Ocean. (CIRA at Colorado State/GOES-West)
A storm that developed off the coast of northwestern Mexico this week helped to change the weather pattern by setting up a southward dip in the jet stream along the Pacific coast. The plunge in these high-altitude winds will direct storms farther to the south than recent weeks, including in many areas that have been bypassed by moisture thus far this season. This pattern flip will not only hold on into this weekend but many days beyond that also.
But as the stormy pattern began, a round of high winds blasted much of California Monday through Tuesday night, and strong winds continued to buffet Southern California Wednesday, raising the fire risk. Additional bouts of gusty winds are likely to occur, but these should be weaker than the event from the first half of this week. Winds may change direction rather quickly due to the frequent nature of the upcoming storms.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
The forecast pattern is expected to unleash multiple storms along the Pacific coast through at least Saturday, Jan. 30. After the 30th, storms will continue to roll in but may tend to focus from Northern California through the Northwest states, more so than Southern California and the Southwest region.
"The storms that will roll in every two to four days are likely to drop southward to a certain point along the Pacific coast before taking a turn inland," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
One such storm began to deliver rain and snow in northern California late Thursday night and will spin inland during Friday and Friday night.
Areas that didn't pick up rain and snow with the midweek storm are likely to get precipitation with this next storm, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ryan Adamson. The midweek storm mainly dampened the southernmost parts of California, as well as parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
Soaking rain is expected to spread southward along the coast of California and reach the Los Angeles basin on Friday. Scattered showers will erupt across interior areas of Southern California and the deserts of Arizona, but rainfall amounts will be lower than those unleashed at midweek. Rainfall amounts with the late-week storm are expected to range from 0.10 to 0.25 of an inch following an inch.
The storm will produce several inches of accumulating snow over the mountains, including the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch ranges from Friday to Saturday, as well as the Rockies from southern Montana to northern New Mexico from Saturday to Sunday. Even though a tremendous amount of snow is not anticipated for Donner Pass, California, along Interstate 80, enough is likely to fall to make roads slippery. Salt Lake City is expected to receive a 3- to 6-inch snowfall from the storm this weekend.
As the main part of this storm pushes inland, a smaller piece is likely to drop southward along the Southern California coast. Some snow showers can create slippery conditions over Tejon and Cajon passes on Saturday, and rain showers could dampen lower elevations of the Southland.
Yet another storm -- the second in a parade -- is forecast to take aim at the West Coast from Sunday to Monday, before it moves inland late Monday into Tuesday.
This second storm is likely to be more organized and stronger than the first storm.
"The storm from late Sunday to Tuesday is likely to bring heavy snow, perhaps on the order of 1-2 feet, over the Sierra Nevada and perhaps a few inches of snow over the Grapevine and over the high deserts in Southern California," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
This same storm is also likely to bring locally heavy snow to the mountains in Arizona and the Wasatch Range.
"Snow levels can dip to rather low levels throughout the Southwest with accumulating snow possible at intermediate elevations that usually dodge snow in the wintertime," Rayno said.
This second storm is the most likely of the series to bring rainfall that may be measured in inches, rather than tenths of inches to coastal areas of California and the potential for an inch of rain to the central valley area of the state.
A third storm may drop southward along the Pacific coast during the middle part of next week, although there is some question as to whether or not this system will turn inland or linger just offshore. Even if the center of the storm stays off the coast, very heavy rain may fall in the lower elevations of California. In the mountains of northern California and in the Sierra, several feet of snow are possible. The heavy rain and snow will be due to a potential atmospheric river.
Any of the storms can bring enough rain to saturate the soil enough to raise the risk of mudslides, but the second storm may come with a greater threat of these dangers than the first. The mudslide risk will be greatest in recent burn scar locations. Similarly, any of the storms can trigger brief urban flooding.
Rain accompanying the storms will lead to wet roads and slick travel conditions.
As each storm presses southward along the coast, the circulation around the systems will create gusty winds that will agitate seas. Periodic dangerous surf is in store. As battering waves will pound the coast, some coastal flooding and beach erosion are likely.
Over the high country of the Sierra Nevada to the Rockies, there is the potential for 1-3 feet of snow to fall as the pattern will persist until nearly the end of the month.
The stormy weather pattern will also act to suppress temperatures over the western third of the nation.
Temperatures are predicted to be held 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit below normal across the Southwest, with the greatest temperature departures possible in California. Normal highs range from 68 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles to 56 in San Francisco and 43 at Lake Tahoe. Las Vegas typically has a high of 58 late in January.
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Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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