The Nation's Weather 11.20.09

By WEATHER UNDERGROUND (AP)

New England was expected to see another dreary day, while the Pacific Northwest remains under wintry conditions on Friday.

A low pressure system was forecast to continue moving over British Colombia from the Pacific Ocean. As this system pushes further inland throughout the day, it was expected to create a moist cold front that could sweep through the Pacific Northwest and northern California.

This front could obtain ample moisture from the Pacific Ocean, and spread heavy precipitation over the region.

In the high elevations of the Cascades, snowfall accumulation could be between 8 and 12 inches. The

Northern Rockies were expected to see up to 6 inches of snow. This strong system also could bring intense winds to the region with gusts of up to 35 mph. Winter weather and avalanche advisories have been issued.
Northern California was expected to see periods of significant rainfall on Friday with most areas seeing up to 1 1/5 inches of rain.

Meanwhile, in the Central U.S., high pressure was forecast to build over the Mississippi River Valley and bring another day of pleasant weather to most of the Plains and Valley regions.

However, a residual low pressure system in the Northeast could continue spreading light and scattered showers. Light showers was expected to leave less than a half inch of rain to stretch from New York to Maine.

To the South, an interesting trough was expected to develop and could pick up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that could feed energy into the system. Heavy rain and strong winds over the Gulf states were expected and could bring rainfall totals of between 1 1/2 and 2 inches and wind gusts of up to 20 mph.

On Thursday, temperatures in the Lower 48 states ranged from a low of -2 degrees at Laramie, Wyo. to a high of 86 degrees at Indio, Calif.