Weather report: Texas temperatures on the rise

In the West, mild weather is promoting early-spring fieldwork from California into the Southwest, but chilly conditions have returned to the northern Rockies and northern Intermountain West.

On the Plains, warm weather prevails in Texas, where today’s high temperatures will approach 90°F in central and southern parts of the state. Meanwhile, cold weather is returning to the northern and central Plains. In addition, wind-driven snow is falling across parts of Montana and North Dakota.

In the Corn Belt, a band of snow stretches from the Red River Valley southeastward into Illinois. Winter storm warnings are in effect across much of the upper Midwest for the likelihood for additional snow and increasingly windy weather. Most of the Midwest remains covered by snow in the wake of two February storms.

In the South, freeze warnings are in effect this morning across much of Georgia and northern Florida, although temperatures remained mostly above 32°F in Florida’s citrus belt. In contrast, warm weather is returning to the western Gulf Coast region, where weekend freezes were noted as far south as south-central Texas.

Outlook: A storm currently centered over North Dakota will dive southeastward into the Mid-Atlantic region by mid-week, producing a stripe of snow. The storm will intensify near the Atlantic Seaboard , leading to the possibility of heavy mid-week snow in the central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic coastal plain. Meanwhile, Pacific storminess will arrive across northern California and the Northwest on March 5-6. During the second half of the week, rain and snow showers will overspread the remainder of the West. Toward week’s end, generally light precipitation will return to portions of the Plains and the upper Midwest. The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for March 9-13 calls for below-normal temperatures across the majority of the U.S., while warmer-than-normal weather will be confined to New England, the Great Basin, and the Pacific Coast States. Meanwhile, above-normal precipitation in most areas from the central and southern Plains to the Atlantic Seaboard will contrast with drier-than-normal conditions in the West.