Weather report: Mild, dry and breezy across the central Plains

In the West, mostly dry weather prevails. However, mild conditions across northern California and the Northwest contrast with below-normal temperatures in the Southwest.

On the Plains, some snow is falling in the vicinity of a warm front in North Dakota. Elsewhere on the northern and central Plains, mild, dry, breezy weather prevails. Farther south, however, cool weather lingers across the southern Plains, where Tuesday’s storm produced beneficial moisture and left several inches of snow on the ground across western Oklahoma and Texas’ northern panhandle.

In the Corn Belt, some precipitation (rain and wet snow) is moving into the Ohio Valley. Elsewhere, mild, dry weather prevails, with substantial snow cover limited to the northern tier of the Midwest.

In the South, a wet weather pattern persists, except for dryness across Florida’s peninsula. Lowland flooding continues along several rivers, most notably in the central Gulf Coast States in an area centered on southern Mississippi.

Outlook: For the remainder of today and tonight, snow will spread from the Ohio Valley into the northern MidAtlantic States and southern New England, while rain showers will affect the Southeast. Meanwhile, light snow will break out across the north-central U.S. and spread eastward across the nation’s northern tier. Farther west, periods of unsettled, showery weather will affect the northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest during the next several days. In contrast, little or no precipitation will occur through week’s end from southern California into the Southwest, and across the central and southern Plains. Late-week temperatures will fall sharply in the Midwest and East, but will quickly rebound to above-normal levels across the nation’s mid-section. The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for February 18-22 calls for near- to below-normal temperatures nationwide, except for warmer-than-normal weather across Florida’s peninsula. Meanwhile, above-normal precipitation in most areas from the Plains to the East Coast will contrast with drier-than-normal conditions across Florida’s peninsula and west of the Rockies.