Two Western U.S. Systems To Begin The Week – National Weather Outlook For February 13, 2023

by | Feb 13, 2023 | Weather

National Weather Forecast

On Monday, we’ll be tracking two systems in the western half of the United States. A developing low in the Southwest will bring snow to the Rockies and rain across the central/southern Plains. Another system in the Northwest brings mountain snow and lower-elevation rain. An area of low pressure moving out of Canada into New England will spread some snow showers across the region by the evening.

Up to two feet of snow could fall across the Cascades and other western mountain ranges (including the Rockies) through Valentine’s Day Tuesday. Meanwhile, at least an inch of rain will be possible across the central United States. Most of the rain in the Mid-Atlantic will have fallen by Monday morning, with 1-3” in spots.

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More from CNN: “Like the rest of the West, Utah has a water problem. But megadrought and overconsumption aren’t just threats to wildlife, agriculture and industry here. A disappearing Great Salt Lake could poison the lungs of more than 2.5 million people. When lake levels hit historic lows in recent months, 800 square miles of lakebed were exposed – soil that holds centuries of natural and manmade toxins like mercury, arsenic and selenium. As that mud turns to dust and swirls to join some of the worst winter air pollution in the nation, scientists warn that the massive body of water could evaporate into a system of lifeless finger lakes within five years, on its way to becoming the Great Toxic Dustbowl. “This is an ecological disaster that will become a human health disaster,” warned Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. “We know about dust storms, we know about particulate pollution, we know about heavy metals and how they’re bad for humans,” she told CNN. “We see a crisis that is imminent.””

Wildfire Smoke May Worsen Extreme Blazes Near Some Coasts, According to New Research

More from Inside Climate News: “Apart from clouding skies, irritating eyes, clogging respiratory systems and warming the climate, smoke from huge wildfires may actually help fires grow in some coastal areas, according to recently released research. The acrid smoke billowing from a megafire can drive a feedback loop impacting surface winds and humidity to help a fire spread, scientists said. “Wildfire is not just a passive responder or consequence of climate warming or extreme weather conditions,” said Xin Huang, an associate professor of atmospheric sciences at Nanjing University and one of the paper’s authors. “It’s also an active and very important participant in the extreme event.” Firefighters and scientists have long understood that wildfires can create their own weather, with large blazes spawning stormy plumes of clouds that can drive strong, erratic winds that fan flames or strike the ground with lightning. But the new research suggests the smoke from large wildfires may also affect the weather and the fires they drive.”

Explaining the Fed’s climate test

More from E&E News: “Turns out modeling catastrophic climate change is harder than it looks. Just ask the Federal Reserve. The U.S. central bank is now in the process of gauging six major banks’ approach to preparing for the economic realities of a warming world. And as part of that effort, the Fed is developing a “pilot climate scenario analysis” that will test those lenders’ ability to model — and then handle — a variety of climate-related events, such as a major hurricane strike in the northeastern United States or a future with robust climate laws. Climate risk experts have lauded the move as a critical first step toward addressing the financial threats of global warming. But the Fed’s efforts also have drawn criticism and elicited a long list of questions — including what the Fed and the six banks will gain from the effort, and what comes next.”

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– D.J. Kayser