Heavy snow, including blizzard conditions in the Central U.S., are shifting eastward. Heavy snow shifts east of the Appalachians late tonight. A large swath of freezing rain will extend eastward across Kentucky tonight. Axis of the heavy snow in the Mid-Atlantic region shifts slightly south and now includes Washington, DC to Central Virginia. Cold winds follow the storm causing blowing and drifting.

A large area of snow develops across the central Great Plains Saturday night extending to the Missouri Valley Sunday morning and across the southern half of the Ohio Valley on Sunday. Snow extends to the Mid-Atlantic States Sunday night and Monday. A large swath of 6-12 in. of snow is likely with high spots in the 12-18 in. range in Missouri.

Strong upper-level low pressure rests on the Southeast Brazil Coast next week and is positioned to unload significant rain on East/Northeast Brazil with the western edge of the wet weather pattern reaching Central Brazil. No rain is forecast for Northeast Argentina to Southeast Brazil.

The U.S. gas population weight HDD forecast certainly identifies the increasing heating demand. Utilizing all models, the HDD forecast consensus through mid-January is colder than yesterday and trend colder for the second half of January into early February according to CFS V2/ECM consensus. The longer duration cold will occur if snow cover expansion is sustained late in January.