Rain and Thunderstorms Today Along the Gulf Coast, Rain and Snow for Pacific Northwest

The weather across the national remains very quiet for early January. A dry northwest flow at 500 mb across southern Canada and a ridge in the west continues to keep most of the country dry today.  A weak disturbance is generating showers along the Gulf Coast today but no severe weather is forecast.  A storm system will move into the Pacific Northwest later today and tomorrow and the weather there will be unsettled with two storms expected to move ashore through Thursday.  Rain is also likely with a few thunderstorms for central California on Sunday into early Monday.  In the Northeast, there could be a few flurries tonight but drier and milder weather will be back on Sunday afternoon.  The following week will see a broad latitudinal trough move into the Southwest developing a major storm for the Midwest with blizzard conditions and heavy snow for the upper Plains and Great Lakes.  This storm will bring wind and rain to the NYC metro area late next week. 

The North Atlantic Oscillation which has been in a positive phase is forecast to turn strongly negative in the next 2 weeks by the GFS model. 

George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, LLC. George is also a meteorologist with ABC News and Cablevision News 12. Our website is WrightWeather.com.