A "Weather Active" March Weekend

CoCoRaHS observers across much of the country will be busy measuring precipitation of one kind or another this weekend.

Western Atlantic surface map, 7:00 EST March 7

Those in southern New England are still dealing with the storm the moved off into the Atlantic late yesterday. This storm has intensified and stalled out over the Atlantic east of Virginia.  A sharp ridge of high pressure to the east of this storm, and another intense low to the east of the high are blocking the eastward progression of this system. Strong easterly winds are pumping a steady supply of moisture into southern New England, much of which is falling as snow. Snow amounts from 6 to 12 inches are forecast across southern New England. This is a wet snow, and the weight of the snow combined with the high winds means that power outages will be likely. In addition, the winds are pushing the water toward coastal areas, and coastal flood warnings are in effect from Rhode Island to Maine through tomorrow morning.

In the west an upper level system will come ashore in southern California early Friday heading toward the southern Rockies. Rain and snow will accompany this system as it makes its way across the Southwest, and winter weather advisories, watches, and warnings are in effect for a number of western states. This southern system will merge with another disturbance in the Northern Plains, and by Saturday morning will be bringing snow to a large portion of the central and southern Rockies and the Northern Plains. Ahead of this system, strong southerly winds will feed moisture to fuel showers and thunderstorms eastward through the Midwest.

Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF) from 7:00 p.m. EST March 7 to 7:00 p.m. March 10.