The US weather map is about to go wild early and mid week with a textbook spring storm setting up. A very impressure thermal gradient will set over over the Plains as the system matures over Texas, supporting temps 20-40 below normal over the Rockies/western high plains while it may get to nearly 30 above normal over the interior Mid-Atlantic with 80s as far north as Philadelphia, 70s in NYC. An upper low is diving into the Four Corners and once south of Denver, moisture gets tapped from the Gulf while arctic air gets pulled in from Canada. A lot of moisture will pile into the increasing cold over the Front Range and so this will likely be Denver’s largest snowstorm of the year and may even become an April record breaker.

50-60-degree temperature spread over the Central Plains

Huge temperature difference wets up over Nebraska and Kansas with 10s and 20s in the west, 80s in the east

Everything will come together with building heat over Mexico and with the low carving out a deep trough all the way into New Mexico, this will transport the heat north, northeast via multi-stacked southwest winds. Parts of the Mid-Mississippi and even Ohio Valley may approach 90 degrees with 80s making it all the way to Philadelphia. A sharp southwest/northeast demarkation zone with training thunderstorm clusters and embedded supercells is likely to devide 20s, 30s from 70s and 80s across a 150-300 mile stretch of Kansas and Nebraska. Classic.

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The reason central Canada remains so cold is all thanks to the deep, expansive snowpack supported by the unusually cold air.

Check out the 60 hr surface and precip chart off the GFS

Surface/precip

63 hr 850mb temps

Denver To Rhinelander Snowstorm!

Along the northern boundary, a major spring snowstorm develops and we could see a widespread 6-12 inches with 1-2ft back west over Colorado. One cannot rule out 12-18 inches in the Denver Metro while 8-14 inches may also fall over the plains of eastern Colorado, NW Kansas and across a swath of Nebraska, southern South Dakota.

Here’s the 63 hr snow forecast off the GFS.

On the backside of the low and once clear of Denver and western plains, with the combination of deep snow (1-2ft), clear skies, dry air and frigid mid and upper atmosphere, temps may dive into single digits across Denver and below 0 over the plains of eastern Colorado, western Nebraska and Kansas. Daytime highs may struggle to get out of the 10s, low 20s the following day. Record cold daytime highs and night lows could fall.

Here’s the 63 hr GFS 2-metre temps

Check out these Wednesday morning lows, note the -0s over Colorado which are edging into western Nebraska while it stays in the 60s over the Mid-Mississippi/Ohio Valley. Texas may have a spread from 10s over the Panhandle to 70s in the far south! Highs by day will be in the 100s over the Rio Grande Valley with mid-90s reaching central Texas.

An April Record Breaking For Denver?

It’s as the low drops SOUTH of Denver, will the arctic air over Canada gets pulled into the Rockies while warm, moisture rich air gets drawn in from the Gulf and wrapped into the colder air on the north and backside of the low. This could be one for the record books in Denver with a thumping snow driving in from the east. A lot of moistur will be involved as the circulation increases the rate on ingestion of warm-cold and moist air and as the  to a major and far reaching storm system that slides into Texas and grabs both very warm air from Mexico to drives it up towards the Mid-Atlantic, possibly the southern Northeast (New York City) while the still very cold air hovering over the deep central Canada snowpack, will get pulled down over the Northern Plains and right into Denver.

Here was the temperature’s yesterday over the US. Rather warm and pleasant!

Major Severe Weather Outbreak

With the combination of warm, moist air being lifted north from the Gulf and cold, dry air coming down from the north and powerful 120-140 mph jet roaring in between from the SW, you’ve got a significant chance of strong to particularly severe thunderstorm development. With a high lapse rate or temperature difference with height, converging winds at the surface and spin of the storm system, don’t be surprised to see an increasing tornado threat particularly Tuesday when there’s greatest temperature difference and the low is positioned over western Kansas. It’s areas just southeast of the low which is under greatest threat of tornado producing thunderstorms but right along the frontal boundary, thunderstorms will constantly pop and run northeast along the boundary. ‘Training storms’ will produce high rain totals and and flooding.

Here’s the threat area according to The Weather Channel.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

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