Mild Pattern Covers U.S.

[CaptinCrunch]

Mild Pattern Covers U.S.
4:30 PM EST, February 9, 2004

As relatively mild and dry air mass
covers much of the country, attention is
turning to a storm that could bring snow
to areas that very rarely see it.

Afternoon readings were well into the
30s and 40s from the central Plains and
Great into the Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic
and northeast. Seasonable upper 10s
and 20s were found from the northern
Plains to the Great Lakes.

A WeatherBug live sensor in Canton,
NY reached 33 degrees, the first time
they have gotten above freezing since
January 4.

The mild pattern was the result of a
fast, generally westerly flow in the jet
stream, ensuring that air from the
Pacific dominates the weather pattern.
This will not last very long as a large
ridge of high pressure building over the
west will allow shots of progressively
cold air to dip out of Canada into upper
Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes and
northeast, and eventually all the way to
the Gulf Coast.

As this happens a storm now sitting
over northwest Mexico is expected to
move toward the Gulf and southeast
coasts during the middle and end of the
week. This will bring the threat of
significant wintry precipitation to parts
of the lower Mississippi Valley,
Tennessee Valley, interior Carolinas
and mid-Atlantic.

However, there is a large amount of
uncertainty as to how fast the cold air
will come in and how far north the
storm`s moisture will spread.

[StormCrazyIowan]

I don't know that I would call it mild in my area (lol), but I will say that yesterday's high of 34°F was the first above freezing temperature in 16 days- let's keep it that way!

[JCT777]

It's definitely milder around here. Yesterday we hit 41, and we are expecting 46 today. Downright toasty!

[Chris the Weather Man]

It's definitely milder around here. Yesterday we hit 41, and we are expecting 46 today. Downright toasty!

Relax, John, 2 years ago, we be in the high 60's....... I am happy we are not.......