Thanksgiving Week Outlook for 2017
Thanksgiving, the day with all the family, photos, and food, is approaching us. The overall weather pattern for Thanksgiving week looks to have a trough in the east and a ridge in the west.
The eastern trough looks to be pretty persistent, which tends to bring a cool and stormy pattern. The west will probably have a weak ridge during Thanksgiving week, which tends to bring a mild and dry pattern. Recently, the jet stream has been pretty zonal, meaning it is pretty flat, without any big troughs or ridges. This usually makes the north cool and the south mild, and tends to keep big storms from forming.
(Imagine does not represent the location of the troughs and ridges, but represents the flow of the jet stream)
If this zonal flow changes to a more meridional flow, there is a possibility for big storm to form, and could possibly bring some wintry precipitation to the northeast after Thanksgiving, depending on how cold it gets. Keep in mind that Thanksgiving is a little under a week away, so this forecast may not be set in stone, but I do have a pretty good idea about what we could be looking at.
With all this in mind, here is an overall forecast that I put together:
(Map credits go to Crist Cace. Twitter: @CristCacewx)
Details: The western third of the US should be relatively mild and dry. The plains have the trickiest forecast. It looks like the plains will be on the milder and drier side, but we have to wait and see what the exact setup of the trough and ridge is to be certain. The Southeast should be cooler than normal, but looks to be relatively dry, and wintry precipitation is not likely. The northeast should be cool and stormy, and there is a higher chance for some wintry precipitation, depending on how cold it gets and if cold lines up with a storm. We will have more long range updates for the months to come, so make sure to keep coming back!
Forecaster: Nikhil Trivedi
Twitter: @DCAreaWx
