FOUS11 KWBC 120820
QPFHSD

Probabilistic Heavy Snow and Icing Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
320 AM EST Tue Nov 12 2024

Valid 12Z Tue Nov 12 2024 - 12Z Fri Nov 15 2024

...Western U.S...
Days 1-3...

An active period of winter weather continues across the Western
CONUS this period as dual shortwave trough cross the region.,

The first of these will be moving from the eastern Great Basin this
morning into the Central Plains by Wednesday evening, with minimal
amplitude gain. The combination of the progressive nature of this
feature with modest PW surge (at least until the Plains when
thermals support only rain) will somewhat limit snowfall potential
D1. However, sharp height falls downstream of the short-wavelength
trough combined with low-level convergence along the accompanying
cold front and post-frontal upslope flow into terrain features will
still support rounds of moderate to heavy snow. The greatest
potential for significant accumulations will be across the Wasatch
and Colorado Rockies, including the Park Range, where WPC
probabilities for more than 6 inches are above 70%, and locally up
to 10 inches is possible, primarily above 5500 ft.

Brief shortwave ridging blossoms across the Northwest behind this
first trough, but is quickly replaced by a more impressive impulse
digging along the Pacific Coast as it drops from the Gulf of
Alaska. Downstream divergence and accompanying WAA/moist advection
will begin to spread precipitation back into the Pacific Northwest
late tonight. Unlike its predecessor, this secondary trough will be
very slow to move east as it gets repeatedly reinforced just off
the coast by renewed lobes of vorticity swinging cyclonically
around it. This will have the two-pronged effect of driving waves
of ascent and persistent moisture onshore, while also keeping the
primary trough axis positioned just west of the region until Friday
when a more pronounced vort max swings through the base and pushes
the trough onshore CA late in the forecast period.

Within the most impressive WAA, a narrow channel of IVT exceeding
750 kg/m/s is likely, focused into the WA/OR and northern CA coast
late D2 into D2 before weakening with inland extent. This channel
/AR/ will also provide the highest increase in snow levels,
reaching as high as 7000 ft. However, dual cold front progged to
push onshore, one Wednesday morning and another Thursday morning,
driven east by periodic shortwaves, will cause gradual lowering of
snow levels to as low as 3000 ft by Friday morning across the
Cascades, and 4500 ft into the Interior Northwest and northern CA.
The lower snow levels will be accompanied by weaker forcing and
more transient moisture however, so heavy pass-level snow is still
not anticipated at this time.

Despite that, heavy snow accumulations are likely, especially on D2
when WPC probabilities for more than 6 inches spike above 90% in
the Cascades, Shasta/Trinity region, the Okanogan Highlands,
Selkirk Mountains, and Blue Mountains. Some of these areas could
receive as much as 2 feet of snow D2, and 6-12 inches is possible
at some of the elevated passes including Washington Pass. By D3,
the snow intensity wanes across most of the NW, but an increase in
WPC probabilities for 6+ inches reaching 30-50% in the Sierra as
the trough finally pushes onshore into CA.

The probability of significant ice across the CONUS is less than
10 percent.


Weiss

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