New Train Of Storms Sets Up In Western U.S. | WeatherBug
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New Train Of Storms Sets Up In Western U.S.

March 21, 2019
UPDATED By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Rebecca Huff
The western U.S. can’t catch a dry break as a series of storms promise coastal rain and mountain snow over the next several days.
 
The first in a wave of disturbances is moving across the Great Basin this evening. As it continues its trek eastward, it will produce snow in the higher elevations of the Mountain West through Friday evening. When all is said and done, many spots in elevations above 6,000 feet could see up to a foot of fresh snow. Meanwhile, the lower elevations and valleys could see as much as an inch of new spring rainfall by early Friday morning.
 
In addition to heavy snow, gusty winds will produce blowing snow and reduced visibility. Winter Weather Advisories along with Winter Storm Warnings are scattered across the Great Basin and southern Rockies, including Ely, Nev., Price and Monticello, Utah, Telluride and Lake City, Colo., and Chama, N.M.
 
This system will move into the Plains by Friday evening, bringing rain from western Nebraska to the Texas Panhandle. Although rain amounts will be an inch or less, rivers across the western Plains are already swollen from recent soaking storms and snowmelt. Any additional rainfall could produce flooding, so exercise extreme caution when going out on the roadways. If you encounter a water-covered roadway, be sure to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” because the water could be much deeper than it appears.
 
There won’t be much of a break in the messy weather pattern after this system. The next system will move onto the West Coast Friday evening, leading to heavy rain from central California to Washington and, to skiers’ delight, mountain snow in the Sierra Nevada over the weekend. Another low pressure system is forecast to impact the West Coast by Tuesday or Wednesday of the coming week.