Merry Christmas December 25, 2024 .... With Ion Meteorologist Steve Pellettiere

The Weather Man Podcast, I talk about weather!

It will be a tale of two weather patterns for the country heading through
the Christmas holiday, as portions of the West and south-central U.S. see
a couple rounds of unsettled weather while most other locations remain
dry. In the West, moderate to heavy lower elevation rain will remain
possible with showers and thunderstorms in California though Christmas Eve
as a Pacific system moves inland, with heavy higher elevation snow for the
Sierra. Some isolated flooding will remain possible along upslope regions
of the Sierra. The precipitation focus will spread inland over the Great
Basin and northern/central Rockies through Christmas Eve night and into
Christmas morning as the system continues eastward, with a mix of rain and
snow for lower elevations and snow into the mountains. Any accumulations
should light for lower elevations with a few inches possible in the
mountains. Another Pacific system will approach the Pacific
Northwest/northern California on Christmas day bringing another round of
moderate to heavy lower elevation/coastal rain and heavy high elevation
snow. Some isolated flooding will be possible along upslope regions of the
coastal ranges, and Winter Storm Watches have been issued for the Cascades
south through the Mt. Shasta region in California for snow totals of 1-2
feet through Thursday. The system will continue inland into the day
Thursday bringing more lower elevation rain/snow and high elevation snow
to the Great Basin and northern/central Rocky Mountains. Heavy snow totals
of 4-8 inches, locally 12"+, are also expected through many ranges of the
northern Great Basin/Rockies. Any accumulations at lower elevations should
remain light. Strong, gusty winds will spread inland with the system and
lead to blowing snow at higher elevations.
To the east, showers and thunderstorms remain in the forecast for portions
of the south-central U.S. the next couple of days as a couple upper level
waves/surface systems pass through the region. Showers and thunderstorms
will continue through this evening over eastern Texas and into the
ArkLaTex ahead of the first system. Some severe thunderstorms producing
mainly hail and isolated damaging winds are possible, as well as some
locally heavy downpours and isolated instances of flash flooding. This
system will make little progress eastward and weaken Christmas day as a
supporting upper-level wave departs the region, which fortunately means
more scattered chances of storms into the Middle/Lower Mississippi Valley.
Then, by early Thursday, another upper-level wave dropping southward will
lead to lee cyclogenesis and a second frontal system pushing eastward into
the southern Plains. Plentiful Gulf moisture lingering just along the
coast will quickly return back northward over Texas/Oklahoma and into the
Arklatex, leading to a renewed round of showers and thunderstorms. Severe
weather will once again be possible with a Slight Risk (level 2/5) issued
from the Storm Prediction Center for the threat of damaging winds as well
as the potential for tornadoes. In addition, widespread storms producing
locally heavy downpours will also once again bring the threat of some
isolated flash flooding. Some more scattered showers and storms will be
possible further northeastward into the Middle and Upper Mississippi
Valleys as well.