WEATHERAmerica Newsletter; Saturday, March 14, 2026; WEATHER HAZARDS And SHORT RANGE OUTLOOK

[Larry Cosgrove]

WEATHER HAZARDS (During The Next 24 Hours)

 

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
(potential for tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail within the next 24 hours)

 

STRONG WINDS

(Pressure Gradient Generated)

TX....OK....AR....MO....KS....NE....SD....ND....MN....IA....WI....IL....IN....OH....W, C PA....W NY....S ON....MI

ISOLATED Severe Thunderstorms

(Microbursts, Large Hail, Isolated Tornadoes)

E OK....W AR....W, N IL....SE WI....Lower MI

 

HEAVY RAINFALL OUTLOOK
(potential for an inch or more total rainfall within the next 24 hours)

 

Isolated Locations In

E OK....W AR....W, N IL....SE WI....Lower MI

(QPF 1 - 3")

 

WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL

(potential for Moderate Icing, Snow 2 - 4" or more, and/or temperatures below 10 deg F)

 

Scattered Locations In

E NE....IA....MN....N, C WI....N MI....C ON

(Snow; Blizzard; 4 - 28"; Some Sleet, Freezing Rain Close To Storm Track)

Isolated Locations In

Coastal Ranges BC

(Snow; 4 to 24" Above 4000 Feet)

Numerous Locations In

AB....SK....MB...ND....SD....MN....N WI....N MI....N, C ON....N, C QC

(Intense Cold)

SHORT RANGE OUTLOOK

(Through The Next 72 Hours)

 

Massive Midwest Storm Returns Cold To Eastern 2/3 Of The USA; But West Is Protected By Sonoran Heat Ridge

METEOBLUE

PivotalWeather.Com (3)

UQAM Meteocentre (3)

ECMWF

College Of DuPage Weather Laboratory (3)

Call it the "All In One" storm!

Systems such as the one moving out of the Heartland in late Winter/early Spring can cover a wide area while creating an impressive display of precipitation types (and amounts) along with radical changes in temperature. The 500MB structure is negative-tilt, synoptic-scale and full-latitude, importing both Arctic air and a moist tropical fetch. Snow and ice amounts in the Upper Midwest and portions of Ontario and Quebec This is a genuine blizzard with high winds and insane snowfall amounts that will still be in play as late as St. Patrick's Day via its cold drainage and high wind speeds.

Because this is a hybrid 500MB storm (closed low embedded in synoptic-scale/full latitude trough complex), severe weather will also be a profound problem from the Heartland into the Dixie states and the Eastern Seaboard. Vorticity and vertical motion parameters as of the latest model runs seem to favor linear or QLCS thunderstorm production, with the favored target area being in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and then parts of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Of course that warm air with the convective response will be swept out as the trough  starts to sweep eastward And upper wave may form, perhaps with surface cyclogenesis in southeast Virginia. The greatest impact from snow by Wednesday morning will be in Appalachia (N AL and NW GA) through the lower Great Lakes. But it is not out of the question that some snow may fall with the arrival of the very cold air on Tuesday night.

And all the while, the West is warm and dry again with a building Sonoran heat ridge.