As another snowstorm moves across the Northern Plains and Great Lakes region, a second system sits off the coast of Southern California this morning, pumping in much-needed moisture from the Pacific Ocean. Rain will fall across lower elevations while significant snow should coat the mountains.
Riding along the southern edge of a deep atmospheric trough, this storm will also drop snow across the drought-plagued terrain of the Four Corners region before moving onto the Southern Plains. Nearing the Mississippi Valley, it is expected to angle to the northeast, bringing a mix of winter precipitation to the lower Missouri and Ohio Valleys before reaching the Northeastern U.S. by New Year's Eve.
Most of the Pacific storms this winter have come ashore in the Pacific Northwest, dropping their cargo of snow across the Cascades, Northern Sierra Nevada, Northern Great Basin Ranges, Wasatch Front and the Northern and Central Rockies. This southern storm will, to some degree, rectify that imbalance and bring vital moisture to the ecosystems of the Desert Southwest.
