WASHINGTON — April is right around the corner and winter is slowly melting away in the US. As of this morning (3/28), only 18.5% of the country was covered with snow, compared to 43.7% exactly one month ago. Much of the snow cover is contained within the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and Rockies. Temperatures today and Friday across much of the Central US are expected to trend warmer to much warmer than normal. While states in the Upper Midwest, like Minnesota and the Dakotas, will still only see highs in the 40s, additional snow melt is expected. However, the Central US could do without the added water from this snow melt as many are still dealing with flooding conditions following the bomb cyclone that impacted the region almost two weeks ago now. Flood Warnings remain in place for many waterways across much of the Midwest and along the Mississippi River.
The warmer trends in the Central US will move onto the East Coast by the weekend and be replaced by slightly cooler than normal temperatures for Saturday. By Sunday, only the Dakotas will trend warmer than normal in the Central US, while the rest of the region trends much colder than normal. These cold trends are expected to hang around the South Central into the start of next week, spreading to the East Coast as well. By mid-week, much warmer trends are forecast to push into much of the Plains and Midwest, while the East remains cooler than normal. Low temperatures on Sunday and Monday could be near freezing as far south as the northern portions of the Gulf States.
Although the Midwest could use all the dry days they can get, over the next 7 days rain, and for some, snow, are in the forecast. Saturday brings the first chance of some light snow to areas of Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas. Snow is also a possibility in the Upper Midwest by mid-week next week. Rainfall is expected from Kansas to New England. Some areas through mid-week next week could see a couple inches of precipitation, but many will see around an inch or less from Illinois westward.
Hurricane Season for the Atlantic Basin officially begins on June 1st. However, tropical systems in the South Atlantic are extremely rare. The last time the South Atlantic saw a tropical system was back in 2010 when Tropical Storm Anita formed off the coast of southern Brazil…until now. Earlier this week, Tropical Storm Iba formed off the Brazilian coast, making it the 3rd official Tropical Storm to form in the South Atlantic. The system has since weakened to a Tropical Depression and is not expected to make landfall. Only once has a tropical cyclone reached hurricane strength in the South Atlantic. That record belongs to Hurricane Catarina back in 2004, which ended up making landfall in Brazil’s state of Santa Catarina with winds equivalent to a category 2 hurricane.
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