At a Glance
- A storm system will track across the country beginning this weekend.
- It will bring rain across the South, from California to the Southeast coast.
- Snow is expected from the Rockies to the Midwest and Northeast.
- A second disturbance will quickly move into the Midwest and Northeast midweek.
- Colder air will be pulled into much of the country later next week.
Two systems will track across the U.S. in the week ahead, spreading more rain and snow and leaving another blast of cold air in their wake.
While specifics are somewhat unclear at this time, there are still three general takeaways about the weather in the final week of February.
First Rain This Month For Some, Latest in Wet Parade For Others
The first storm system is bringing rain into Southern California and the Southwest.
This will be the first rain of the month in L.A., but Northern California will likely remain dry, continuing its pursuit of an extremely rare completely dry February.
Rainfall totals will generally be light, but flash flooding is a concern. The National Weather Service has posted flash flood watches for parts of Arizona, including the Phoenix area.
The rain should spread into the Plains and South Sunday and will continue pushing eastward into midweek.
Some pockets of heavy rain are possible in parts of the South, but this system should progress fast enough to prevent a widespread flash flood event, despite saturated ground and rivers already in flood stage.
Some Northern Snow, But an Uncertain Forecast
Snow will blanket areas from California's southern Sierra to the Rockies of Colorado, possibly including the Front Range of Colorado this weekend.
Beyond that, the wintry details of this storm system in the Plains and East early next week are tricky to forecast. Marginal cold air ahead of the system is one reason for this. Highs Monday and Tuesday could rise above freezing in much of the Midwest and Northeast.
(MORE: No Winter Storm Warnings Yet This Season in Chicago or New York)
A second disturbance will quickly follow the first, moving into the Midwest around Tuesday and then into the Northeast Wednesday into Thursday. Temperatures may be colder with this second system, possibly allowing more snow to fall.
For now, at least some snow looks like a good bet from parts of the Midwest into the interior Northeast next week. But all other details remain uncertain.
(MAPS: 7-Day U.S. Rain/Snow Forecast)
Check back with us at weather.com for updates as this forecast comes into focus over the next several days.
More Prolonged Cold
The cold air following next week's storm is a more straightforward forecast.
A subtle change in the jet stream pattern is expected to spread another round of cold temperatures into the Midwest, South and East later next week.
Below average temperatures will arrive in the Rockies and much of the Plains by Tuesday.
Highs and lows will be up to 20 degrees colder than average midweek from the Plains into parts of the Midwest and South. The colder conditions will reach the East Coast late next week.
Exactly how long that colder air persists is uncertain, but this cold snap may last longer than the relatively fleeting spells of cold we've seen so far in February.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
