STORM EXPECTED TO GO COAST-TO-COAST

Scattered rain showers will overspread Southern California this afternoon and evening. Rain totals will be about a quarter inch along the coast and inland, though totals could climb to an inch in the mountains. The atmosphere will be somewhat unstable, so an isolated thunderstorm could pop up in the evening. This could bring a brief downpour and higher rain totals.

Snow levels will drop to 4000-5000 feet. Elevations above this could pick up 2 to 4" of fresh snow with the higher elevations receiving 4 to 12". Most of this will occur in the San Bernardino Mountains, which you can see on the map below.

This same storm system will dive into the Northern Baja, move across Texas and then race up towards the Mid-Atlantic. This storm will be lacking cold air, so it will produce a lot of rain for the upcoming weekend. The first map below shows the low developing and the second map shows surface temperatures. 

The system will rapidly intensify once it moves off the coast Sunday evening. Surface temperatures will still be very warm (according to this model), however, heavier precip could bring down some colder air aloft. Regardless, 35 degrees is typically the magic number in central Virginia for the rain/snow line. If it can get below 35, then there could be a brief period of heavy wet snow.

I'm guessing that this storm will produce a very narrow band of snow 3 to 6" (just a hunch). It's too early to speculate where this might fall...if at all.