Travel & RV Weather Extended Outlook through Thursday 23 March

Extended outlooks are more general in nature and higher level than the daily short term forecasts. Beyond a week, there is often significant uncertainty in the location and intensity of specific weather events. I will note where there is less, or greater, confidence than normal in these extended outlooks.

Click here for animations of the coming week’s weather, updated daily.

Big Picture this weekend and the first half of next week:

The weekend starts off with a rain/snow mix for the Big Bend region in Texas. This storm moves across the Gulf of Mexico and brings rain to Florida early next week before moving out to sea.
- Pretty wet over much of Florida Saturday through Monday.
Storms move into the West Coast Monday. A stronger storm impacts southern California Tuesday, then moves into the Great Basin and Four Corners region before racing across the Plains mid-week into Canada west of Lake Superior.
- Wet and unsettled for the West Coast Sunday through Wednesday
- Wet and cold with higher elevation snow for the Southwest and 4-corners region Monday through Wednesday
- Windy across the 4-corners region Tuesday and Wednesday
- Possibly some severe weather eastern Texas and the ARK-LA-TEX on Thursday?
In general, most of this period’s snowfall will be west of I-25 or north of I-90. (Big Bend this weekend being the exception).
Wetter than normal this period across central and southern California, the Great Basin and Four-Corners region.
Wetter than normal for Florida too.
Drier than average for Washington, much of the High Plains, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
A bit of warmth (relative to average) for the corners (WA, ME, FL), on Saturday but mostly cooler for most of the country.
- Some ‘pop-up warmth’ in the Northeast Tuesday and Midwest and Central Plains on Wednesday.

Outlook for late March and early April (a 2-4 week outlook is by definition low confidence!):

Still wetter than normal for the Pacific Northwest the last week in March.
Much of the East will end March on a wet note.
The cold continues, although cold is less certain in the east, with occasional glimpses of above normal temperatures.

Details (courtesy of the National Weather Service):

Heavy precipitation across portions of California, the Central Great Basin, the Pacific
Northwest, and the Southwest, Mon-Wed, Mar 20-Mar 22.
Heavy rain across portions of the Middle Mississippi Valley, the Lower Mississippi Valley, the
Southern Plains, the Ohio Valley, and the Tennessee Valley, Thu, Mar 23.
Heavy snow across portions of the Central Rockies, the Central Great Basin, the Northern Rockies,
the Southern Rockies, the Northern Great Basin, and the Southwest, Tue-Wed, Mar 21-Mar 22.
Flooding possible across portions of the Middle Mississippi Valley.
Flooding occurring or imminent across portions of the Lower Mississippi Valley.
High winds across portions of the Central Plains, the Central Rockies, the Central Great Basin,
the Southern Rockies, California, the Southern Plains, and the Southwest, Tue-Wed, Mar 21-Mar 22.
Much below normal temperatures across portions of the Central Plains, the Lower Mississippi
Valley, the Central Appalachians, the Tennessee Valley, the Middle Mississippi Valley, the
Mid-Atlantic, the Southern Appalachians, the Southeast, the Southern Plains, and the Ohio Valley,
Sun-Tue, Mar 19-Mar 21.