Weather

Downpours will raise the risk for flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas from New Jersey to New England on Monday. Before the rain starts to fall, there will be enough cold air for ice to persist across northern New England and upstate New York. The icy mix can linger all day in northern parts of New Hampshire and Maine.

The storm impacting the Northeast will also cause snow to persist across the upper Great Lakes. Winds and fresh cold air on the storm’s backside will chill the rest of the Midwest as snow showers stream down to the central Appalachians. The Southeast, however, will be drier as breezy winds usher in cooler air.

Most of the Plains will be dry with high pressure in control. The High Plains will turn warmer ahead of a storm delivering periodic rain and mountain snow showers to areas from the Northwest to Central California. Across Northern and Central California, there can also be thunderstorms that can produce small hail. The wet weather will remain north of Southern California.

Ahead of the storm’s cold front, gusty winds will significantly raise the fire danger across the Desert Southwest. The strongest winds will howl from the deserts of California to Utah and Wyoming.

High fire danger will be present Monday in the Southwest as well as Tuesday, when it will also overspread the southern Plains. Gusty winds, high temperatures and very low humidity, together with ongoing drought, will set up this risk for sudden, fast-moving wildfires.