Today's Weather Outlook
A thunderous day will rattle much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation today, but do not discount a wintry mix from slipping over some of the northern Rockies.
Thanks to a lingering low pressure area over the central Rockies, areas focused on and just outside of Wyoming will see persistent wintry weather. Snow will rule over the high slopes as well as the High Plains into the afternoon as cold air surges in, but before then and amongst the low valleys, expect a wintry mix to light showers. Isolated showers will also find themselves pouring over the central Pacific Northwest under an evening disturbance.
Further east and south of the high latitudes, scattered thunderstorms and showers spread from the southern High Plains into the Great Lakes and Southeast.
A focus for strong to severe storms will open in the southern half of the Plains, where an energetic atmosphere with upper-level energy and frontal systems sparks up isolated risks for damaging winds, hail, and a tornado or two in the afternoon and evening.
To the north, a cold front will sweep up scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms into the central Plains, Upper Midwest, and Northeast, while the South will observe more widespread showers and lightning under heavier heat, moisture, and a stationary front.
Otherwise, most folks in the far Northwest and the Southwest can plan for a calmer spring day today. The temperature forecast, however, is not as simple.
Due to colder pools of air forming under continuous rainfall, southern Appalachia, and parts of Kansas into Oklahoma are relegated to highs in the low 70s and 60s. By contrast, the rest of the South, the Lower Midwest, the Desert Southwest, and the Mid-Atlantic will all enjoy pleasantly high 70s and 80s, while even 90s turn up around Florida and the southern High Plains. The Pacific Northwest, the Intermountain West, and southern New England will feel similar temperatures to their cold pool counterparts, just under drier skies.
An actual chill will emerge over New England and parts of the Upper Midwest and northern Plains as 50s and 40s cap the day under an isolated cold air mass. At its core, from Wyoming into North Dakota, expect to wear coats under a day that peaks in the 30s at best to the 20s and teens at worst atop the central Rockies.
