Update - January 20, 2015

In the post I did on the 16th (click here), I discussed the upcoming couple of weeks and forcing from the MJO (Madden Julian Oscillation).  With that forcing would likely be a relatively mild period with a few cooler periods offset by very mild days.  So far, that has worked out.

Also, I mentioned relatively dry weather across the high plains and if there was precipitation it would be minor.  Overnight Monday and early this morning (Tuesday) there was an area of light rain (and snow at higher elevations of the plains) that moved east across Kansas.  Amounts were generally light (less than a 10th of an inch or nothing at all) but there were a couple of 2 inch snow reports near Goodland and points west.

But what I didn't see coming (and perhaps should have) was the system that could break underneath the upper level ridge that has been parked across the west coast.  That weather system is now showing up on today's satellite image.  The X over California denotes the upper levels of the system and it is wet and headed east!

First, the upper system that brought the rain early this Tuesday morning was located across southeast Missouri by Tuesday afternoon.  Another system (X across Montana) will combine with the California system to produce widespread snow Wednesday and Thursday across southern Colorado, far southwest KS, New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.

The Weather Prediction Center has the following forecast for possible amounts.  That is a pretty robust forecast!  Eventually the system will bring rain to Oklahoma and the remainder of Texas and into the southeast U.S.