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[March 18, 2010] (AP) After a brief stint of fairly quiet weather activity over most of the West, a new patch of active weather was expected to move into the region Thursday.

A strong Pacific storm system over southwestern Canada was forecast to produce a mix of precipitation across the northern and central Rockies and high Plains as it dropped southeastward into Wyoming on Thursday. The brunt of this precipitation would fall to the north of an associated frontal boundary that would stretch across the central Great Basin and into the central Plains.

Periods of light, scattered rain showers were expected from areas of southern Nevada through southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska with snow blanketing the higher elevations. Rainfall across these regions would quickly change into snow by the afternoon as cold air from Canada sank southward and dropped temperatures to below freezing. The heaviest amounts of snow were expected throughout Wyoming on Thursday and would spread southward into Colorado on Friday. Meanwhile, gusty north winds were expected to accompany wet weather and would create periods of blowing and drifting snow throughout the day.

The remainder of the West would continue to see dry and warm weather conditions due to lingering high pressure.

In the East, the precipitation event across the Southeast was expected to taper down as the low pressures system affecting the region moved into the Atlantic. Areas of scattered showers were expected to persist from the eastern Gulf coast to the southeastern coast. Meanwhile, high pressure would dominate the rest of the East with dry conditions and unseasonably mild daytime temperatures from the Great Lakes through New England.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a low of 11 degrees at Lake Yellowstone, Wyo., to a high of 91 degrees at Santa Ana, Calif.

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On the Net:

Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/

National Weather Service:
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/

Intellicast:
http://www.intellicast.com/

[Associated Press article from Weather Underground]