3/16/2000 Message of the Day
Christopher Duvall, Rutgers Univ. Meteorologist

Precipitation:

Howdy!  As of Wednesday evening, the two areas to watch are 
the Tennessee area and the Colorado area- the first due to 
heavy rain and the second due to heavy snow.  A Low is 
forming in the west Texas area at the southernmost point 
of the cold air that is moving south out of Canada as a cold 
front.  Showers and storms have formed along this boundary 
between cold and warm air for the past day or so, and will 
continue through Thursday as the cold front swings around 
to the east.  If the Low persists, it will aid in lifting 
the air to help create more clouds and storms, wherever it 
is located along the cold front.

As the unstable weather pattern moves past the Colorado 
area through Thurs. morning, significant amounts of snow 
are expected.  The temperatures should be cold enough in 
the cold, stable air that you should be able to still see 
the snow on a visible satellite image once the clouds clear 
out during the day late Thursday or sometime Friday. There 
may be enough snow in the Great Lakes region to see it on 
the satellite image Friday, too.   Remember- clouds move, 
snow doesn't- unless it's melting, which usually occurs 
from the outer edges toward the middle.  Also, snow won't 
tend to accumulate on large lakes or rivers, so they should 
stand out as darker areas, and in the Rockies it may cover 
mountain peaks but not valleys.  

I mentioned in yesterday's message that Wednesday's weather 
would mostly be driven by smaller-scale, (the size of a few 
counties) or mesoscale weather patterns.  Today's weather 
will be regulated more by the cold front and the developing 
Low, which are larger-scale, (the size of a few states) or 
synoptic scale features.

By Thursday evening, much of the eastern third of the U.S. 
will see the potential for rain as the cold front moves to 
the east across the U.S..  As for the California region, it 
looks like the next system may miss you entirely as it moves 
into Oregon and Washington, giving you a pleasant, rain-free 
weekend.

Temperatures:

Expect temperatures to remain pretty constant underneath all 
of the clouds ahead of and along the cold front.  Once the 
cold air arrives and the clouds clear out, it will feel a lot 
more like early spring- breezy and cool.  

I will be available online during the day if anyone has any 
questions.  Hope this helps!

- C.D.   3/16/2000