Five Things to Watch In the First Week of 2017

Jonathan Belles, Linda Lam
Published: December 31,2016
An active weather pattern will bring another interesting week of weather to start 2017 across the U.S.
The upcoming week will feature another multi-faceted winter system that will bring the first dose of heavy snow of the year for the Upper Midwest and drought-denting showers and thunderstorms for the South.
In addition, some big temperature changes are ahead which could play a role in a late-week system in the South.

1. Next Winter Trouble Maker

The next winter storm will begin to impact the Pacific Northwest New Year's Eve and will spread into the interior West and into the Rockies on New Year's Day.

Next Winter System

This next round of wintry weather is due to a dip in the jet stream that will push southward into the West bringing cold temperatures. An area of low pressure is then expected to intensify in the Plains Monday and will track toward the Great Lakes.
The result will be snow for much of the West, even in some of the lower elevations such as Seattle and Portland. A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain will also be found from the northern Plains into the Upper Mississippi Valley and the northern Great Lakes.
Strong and gusty winds are also likely early week in the northern Plains and Midwest.
(MORE: Early Week Wintry Mess) 
Portions of the interior Northeast may see some freezing rain, sleet and snow early in the week ahead of this system.

2. Heavy Rain

The second of two slugs of moisture will ride Interstate-10 eastbound during the first half of the week. This welcomed disturbance may bring an additional 1 to 3 inches of rainfall to much of the South.

Rainfall Forecast

Given the ongoing drought in the South, this rain will generally be beneficial, although it will not erase the drought.
Showers may linger into Tuesday in the Southeast, before drier conditions return midweek behind a cold front.
(MORE: 8 Cool Things to Look For in Winter)
The rain may be locally heavy at times and rainfall totals of more than 3 inches are expected through Tuesday toward the northern Gulf Coast. In fact, flood watches have been issued from southern Louisiana into southwestern Alabama.

3. Severe

An area of low pressure will move from the southern Plains into the Deep South to start the week. In addition to bringing much-needed rain to the South, thunderstorms are also expected to develop.

Thunderstorm Forecast

Scattered severe thunderstorms are possible Sunday night in central and eastern Texas, as well as into southern Louisiana. The primary threat with these storms will be large hail, but damaging wind gusts and an isolated tornado are also possible.
(MORE: Heavy Rain and Severe Thunderstorms to Start 2017 in the South)
The threat of severe thunderstorms slides east on Monday and will stretch from eastern Texas into Louisiana, southern Arkansas, central and southern Mississippi and into southwestern Alabama and the far western panhandle of Florida.

4. Temperature Changes

The next round of brutally cold temperatures will begin to press into portions of the West on Monday, as an upper-level trough, or southward dip in the jet stream, slides southward.
High temperatures on Monday will be 10 to 30 degrees colder than average for much of the Pacific Northwest and into the northern Rockies and northern Plains. This translates into highs only in the single digits and teens for many areas.

Forecast Highs Compared to Average Next Friday

The bitterly cold temperatures will continue to push south and east through the week. This will also be a lasting cold in some areas as temperatures will remain well-below average from the Northwest into the northern Plains through the week.
Low temperatures will also be up to 40 degrees colder than normal for early January, meaning temperatures will plunge into the teens and 20s below zero in parts of the Rockies and northern Plains.
(MORE: January's Cold Reality Starts 2017)
Farther east, the week will start off quite mild with temperatures 10 to 25 degrees warmer than average from the southern Plains to the East Coast. However, by next weekend colder temperatures will return.
Much of the Midwest and Northeast will see highs in the 40s and 50s early in the week but temperatures will only reach the 20s and 30s by late week. Look for highs in the 60s and 70s in the South to be replaced with highs in the 30s and 40s.

5. Late Week Systems

An active pattern will continue late in the week and given the cold temperatures that are expected to be in place, more wintry weather is possible.
The next disturbance is currently expected to move into the West Coast Tuesday night bringing snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains and then snow will spread into the Rockies Wednesday. By late week, this system may bring some snow to portions of the South and mid-Atlantic.

Wintry Setup?

Yet another low pressure system may move into California mid-to-late week. This may result in rain and mountain snow from southern Oregon into California, as well as into portions of the inter-mountain West and Rockies.
(MAPS: Weekly Planner)
There is much uncertainty with the forecast for late week so be sure to check back to weather.com for forecast updates.

MORE: Winter Storm Europa (PHOTOS)