Weather

Warmth will continue to build over much of the middle of the nation on Saturday, while temperatures continue to rebound in the East. A clockwise flow around high pressure in the Southeast states will help to pump up the warmth over the Mississippi Valley and allow some of that warmth to slide into the Northeast. As the high slides east this weekend, warmth will spread toward the southern Atlantic coast.

An influx of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will produce clouds and showers from Louisiana and northeastern Texas to Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and western Mississippi. Outside of the shower area, some sunshine is in store from the Plains to the Great Lakes and Atlantic coast. Snow showers are forecast to dip south into northern New England.

In the West, a storm will ride a press of colder air over the Intermountain region. Snow is forecast from the southern Rockies to the central Rockies and northern High Plains. Rain showers are in the offing for desert areas of Arizona and New Mexico. Meanwhile, moisture form the Pacific Ocean will allow some rain showers in coastal Washington and Oregon, with snow showers over the northern Cascades and part of the Montana Rockies. Dry weather is forecast for much of California, ahead of more showers next week.

FOCUS: Risk for Strong Thunderstorms

The same storm that will produce snow across the Rockies and Plains is expected to trigger a line of thunderstorms from northeast Texas through northern Louisiana, as well as much of Arkansas late Sunday afternoon into Sunday night.