Weekly Weather Watch: Wednesday, October 16th, 2024
The season’s first snow will hit much of the Rockies, along with frost or freeze for many areas, as the same system passes over the West and heads across the northern states this week.
HEADLINERS:
A Four Corners upper low will bring the first snow of the season to parts of the central/southern Rockies and heavy rain/flooding concerns to the south-central High Plains this weekend.
A frost/freeze is possible for many areas Friday and Saturday.
A slight risk of high winds for portions of western Mainland Alaska, Wed-Thu, Oct 23-24.
Possible flooding for the northern and central Florida Peninsula.
Risk of Rapid Onset Drought (ROD) across portions of eastern Texas, northern Louisiana, and southern Arkansas.
Snowfall for parts of Canada and the risk of a growing season-ending frost/freeze for Ontario and Quebec.
ON THE RADAR:
IN THE GAUGES:
GRAB A RULER:
Colorado folks, your snowfall forecast is provided at WEATHER5280.
RECORDS MADE TO BE BROKEN:
Record highs shown in red, record lows shown in blue. Record lows will outnumber highs this time.
TROPICAL TIDINGS:
At this moment, yes there are areas of active thunderstorms in the tropics that should be monitored for potential development into an organized tropical cyclone, but there is not an imminent risk as of now.
ARE YOU CIRRUS?!
On this day in weather history:
2004 A chain-reaction accident caused on I-95 near White Marsh, Maryland that injured 49 people was caused by the glare of sudden hail.
1780 The most deadly Western Hemisphere hurricane on record raged across the Caribbean. It killed 22,000 people on the islands of Martinique, St. Eustatius, and Barbados. Thousands more died at sea.
As we close out 2025 and ring in the new year, the weather pattern stays anything but quiet. A multi-day lake-effect snow event is burying areas downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario, where over 3 feet of snow could fall in the most persistent bands—creating whiteout squalls and treacherous travel through New Year's Day. Meanwhile, Arctic air is spilling deep into the Southeast, sending temperatures below freezing as far south as Florida, with frost and freeze alerts in place. On the other side of the country, a Pacific storm system will bring rounds of heavy rain and a flash flood threat to Southern California, especially around Los Angeles, starting late New Year's Eve. Elsewhere, a couple of fast-moving clippers will spread freezing rain and snow to Alberta, then snow across the Midwest, Ohio Valley, and into New England, while a developing storm may bring soaking rain and thunderstorms from the Deep South to the Southeast Coast by the weekend. Even Northern California faces an atmospheric river event late week, setting the stage for an active and disruptive start to 2026.