A Wet Christmas Eve in the Northeast, Cold and Dry for Christmas Day...

The weather pattern this week will produce rain and mild temperatures in the East with highs in the upper 50s in New York City and the lower 60s in Washington, D.C.on Christmas Eve. The rain will be heavy at times Tuesday night and Wednesday with showers during the evening of Christmas Eve.  The weather on Christmas Day will be sunny, breezy and cold in the Northeast.  Meanwhile today and tomorrow a weather system in the Pacific Northwest will produce heavy rains and heavy mountain snow across the Cascades and Rockies.  Flash flooding may occur today along the coast of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Snowfall totals can be as high as 1 to 2 feet along the northern and central Rockies and the Cascades. The long range GFS model continues to indicate a pattern shift to much colder weather across the eastern half of the nation by the end of this week and into next week. The GFS has been hinting of a coastal storm that could impact the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic around New Years Eve with another storm affecting the same area a few days later into the new year. The CPC is forecasting below normal temperatures for a large portion of the nation over the next 8 to 14 days with above normal precipitation along the East Coast and the along the Gulf Coast to the Northern Plains. The NAO and AO indices are forecast by the GFS to turn slightly negative over the next 10 days with a change back to positive in the first week of January. There has only been 1 inch of snowfall in Central Park this month. The long range pattern is indicating that there could be snowfall within the next 8 to 12 days in the city. Have a great holiday.          

George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, LLC. Visit our website at WrightWeather.com. Follow George Wright on Twitter @gwweather.