End of Year Snowstorm Southern Rockies and Plains

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

December 30,2012; 3:58PM,EST

Areas between I-40 and I-70 over the southern Rockies and Plains will be showered with natural confetti by an end-of-the-year snowfall.
A storm system is pushing across the Southwest.
This storm will produce a swath of light to moderate snow on the order of a coating to a few inches from the rim country of Arizona, northern New Mexico and southern Colorado to the a large portion of Kansas and central Missouri.

The storm will bring a little snow to the upper reaches of the Grand Canyon, Ariz. (Photos.com image)

Snow and slippery conditions will occur in Flagstaff, Ariz., Wichita, Kan., Kansas City and St. Louis.
Farther south and east, snow or a wintry mix will occur from the northern Texas Panhandle to part of central Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas then into northwestern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri Monday into Monday night.

Travelers along I-40 should expect areas of slippery travel and delays developing later Sunday in Arizona and New Mexico then during Monday over the southern Plains.
Along I-25, between Albuquerque and Denver, snow and slippery travel conditions are in store. Both metro areas are projected to receive a coating to an inch or so of snow, but locally heavier amounts will occur along the corridor in between.

The storm will bring a bit of fresh natural powder and fluff to ski country.
Farther south, spotty rain showers will drift across the deserts into Sunday night and part of Monday.
As the storm pushes eastward, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will feed into the storm system.
Locally drenching rain and thunderstorms are forecast from northeastern and coastal Texas to the lower Mississippi Valley. Downpours could could travel delays in Dallas, Houston, Shreveport and Little Rock.

During New Year's Day, the storm will spread its drenching rain, snow and wintry mix farther east over the South, Ohio Valley and part of the Appalachians.