It is largely expected that this will be an unsettled period across
our forecast area...but unfortunately...there is too much
uncertainty in the evolution of a longwave trough over the center of
the country to pin down whether we will experience several rounds of
mixed pcpn or significant accumulations of snow.
The pronounced differences among the various medium range guidance
packages are primarily based in the handling of the aforementioned
trough as it makes its way across the Four Corners area. Without
getting into too much detail...the forecast will come down to how
many shortwaves will eject out of a possible closed mid level low
and where the axis of a tight baroclinic zone will be found
downstream across the Ohio Valley and Lower Great Lakes. Even the
main ensemble packages have significant differences...so its not
worth scouring the individual deterministic models. As a result...
confidence will be lower than normal through this period. Stay
tuned.