All the media attention for the next couple of days will be upon the huge Nor'easter and its impacts (see middle GFS forecast for 5 pm this afternoon 26 December) upon much of the eastern US. Looks like a longer-than-expected Holiday weekend for many.-----------------------------------------------------
Here in the Southwest a much weaker system will be moving across Arizona today. The top image shows that one of the current PW plumes over the Pacific is pointed directly at Arizona today. There will likely be considerably more cloudiness later today than currently anticipated in the forecast, perhaps with some light sprinkles in southern Arizona.
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After this system passes by, the weather action will shift to the West and northern Plains. The GFS surface forecast (operational version) for 5 PM next Thursday is shown in the bottom panel. The GFS and ECMWF are now more in sync for end of year and forecast a large, cold 500 mb low over the West. It is of note that the 1000-500 mb thickness falls to very low values across Arizona. Bringing some light snow, in the forecast, to very low elevations. The bottom panel also indicates a setup for heavy snows in northeast Colorado. After Thursday, there is more uncertainty in the models, with some ensemble members forecasting another blizzard in the northern Plains and/or western Great Lakes.
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Truly a bonaza for weather watchers for the end of the year!
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