National Weather Forecast
On Sunday, a barely moving frontal boundary stretching from Texas to the Southeast will spark showers and thunderstorms across the region. A system will produce some snow showers from Montana to northern Minnesota. An upper-level low along the West Coast will continue to drift south, and with a combination of some stalled frontal systems will produce rain and snow in portions of the western United States.
As we look at precipitation through Monday, there will be two areas of the country that could see at least 1-2″ of rain: one from northern Texas to the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and a second around the Bay Area. Meanwhile, the heaviest snow is expected to fall out in the Sierra, with at least 3-6 feet of snow is possible.
Here’s a closer look at the expected snowfall totals across the Sierra. Some of the passes could see up to 6 feet of snow.
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Dry conditions in California continue to expand, but will March rains dent the drought?
More from the Los Angeles Times: “The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor data, released Thursday, show that about 48% of California is in moderate drought. That’s up from 34% a week ago. An additional 30% of the state is abnormally dry, according to the data. The data were compiled Tuesday, so the figures do not reflect moisture from Southern California’s most recent storm. Northern California, which is generally farther behind seasonal precipitation norms, received little benefit from that storm, which primarily dampened the southern and central parts of the state. The Drought Monitor map issued Thursday shows that portions of several Central and Southern California counties that were abnormally dry a week ago have now slipped into drought. Most of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties have joined the majority of Kern County in the moderate-drought category. The abnormally dry designation has spread south and east to cover Orange and western portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The northwestern corner of San Diego County, where Camp Pendleton is located, is also abnormally dry.”
Will warmer weather help fight the coronavirus? Singapore and Australia suggest maybe not
More from CNN: “There is evidence to suggest the coronavirus does particularly well in certain climates. Some of the worst hit areas around the world — from Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, to Iran, Italy and South Korea — are on more or less the same latitude, with similar temperatures and relative humidity. Researchers at the University of Maryland (UM) have even used this data to attempt to map out other parts of the world that could be at risk of imminent outbreaks. Though the research remains preliminary, data from the UM study suggests that certain climatic conditions, while not determining whether the virus can survive, may help accelerate its spread. “In addition to having similar average temperature, humidity, and latitude profiles, (locations along latitude 30-50°N) also exhibit a commonality in that the timing of the outbreak coincides with a nadir in the yearly temperature cycle, and thus with relatively stable temperatures over a more than a one month period of time,” the authors wrote.”
Coronavirus could weaken climate change action and hit clean energy investment, researchers warn
More from CNBC: “The coronavirus pandemic has stoked concerns of a global economic recession as it spreads across the world, igniting one of the sharpest oil price plummets in the last 30 years and causing the biggest stock plunge on Wall Street since the stock market crash in 1987. While the crisis has led to a temporary decline in global carbon dioxide emissions, experts are warning it poses a serious threat to long-term climate change action by compromising global investments in clean energy and weakening industry environmental goals to reduce emissions. The International Energy Agency, or IEA, has warned the virus outbreak will likely undermine clean energy investment and is urging governments to offer economic stimulus packages that invest in clean energy technologies.”
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– D.J. Kayser
