A surface low in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico yesterday morning had associated with it a deep midlevel trough. Strong moisture transport occurred from the Gulf of Mexico into north Texas, and the below-freezing temperatures there caused more than foot of snow to fall in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. At least 1/2 foot of snow fell in a wide band from east-central New Mexico through west-central Louisiana. One to 3 inches of rain fell south of this snow band in central, southeastern, and southern Texas and southern Louisianan. This portion of the snowpack is predominantly warm (slightly cooler in west Texas) and it's melting moderately where there was a rain/snow mix.
An offshore system with strong onshore winds (gusts over 60 mi/hr) moved into the Northwest yesterday. One-half to 1 foot of snow fell at high elevations of the Cascades, and an inch of rain fell at lower elevations there. The onshore winds transported warm and moist air inland while adding energy to the snowpack. This helped to expand the warm snowpack conditions, but it did not do much to increase the area of melt farther inland, but melt did increase in the windward Cascades.
The surface low which moved across the northern Gulf of Mexico yesterday has moved to the Florida panhandle this morning. Up to 1/2 foot of snowfall is possible in areas of the northern Gulf Coast states, mainly southern Alabama through central Georgia. This system will continue moving northeastward on Saturday, but little additional precipitation is expected then.
The system which moved into the Northwest yesterday will continue its movement eastward. One-half to 1 foot of snow is possible across the higher elevations of the northern Rockies today through early tomorrow. Another system will bring onshore flow into the Northwest Friday to Saturday. One-half to 1 foot of snow is possible during this period in the northern Cascades. A couple inches of rain is likely at lower elevations, too.
weather.gov
