Dec. 24 (UPI) — For the most part, U.S. holiday weather should make travel easy this Christmas for most of the nation, but people along the West Coast and the south-central U.S. might encounter more inclement weather.
Heavy rain and mountain snow are forecast for the West Coast on Christmas night, while developing showers and thunderstorms are forecast for the south-central United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The majority of the nation, though, should enjoy mild weather that won’t interfere with holiday travels and activities over Christmas, the NOAA predicts.
An “energetic storm track” in the eastern Pacific Ocean likely will trigger a series of atmospheric river events across northern California and western Oregon on Tuesday that could bring between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall and more in some locales through the evening hours.
A cold front is following the storm track, which the NOAA says initially will cause heavy snowfall that will dissipate as the front passes through the area.
Higher elevations in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains should see the heaviest snowfall amounts with up to a foot of accumulation possible and affecting travel through mountain passes.
Heavy rain and snow early Tuesday will change to heavy snow with up to 8 inches of accumulation and breezy conditions that will make road travel “extremely difficult and dangerous” in South Lake Tahoe, according to AccuWeather.
A winter weather advisory is in effect for the Lake Tahoe area until 7 p.m. Christmas Eve. Overnight lows will dip into the teens, but Christmas Day weather should be calm and dry.
A weak low-pressure system traversing the Northeast region on Tuesday will cause light and occasionally moderate snow in the central Appalachians and New England states, but the system should leave the area by Tuesday evening and make way for a white Christmas Day, the NOAA predicts.
A low-pressure system moving across Texas will combine with a southerly flow from the western Gulf of Mexico, which the NOAA says will bring scattered rain showers and occasional thunderstorms moving northward from eastern Texas through Arkansas and into southern Missouri through Christmas morning.
Some areas in Texas, Arkansas and Missouri might see an inch or more of rainfall.
The NOAA says most of the East Coast states will see moderation of cold temperatures Tuesday evening as an arctic high-pressure system moves offshore and milder air from the Ohio Valley moves eastward across the region.
Most of the rest of the nation should see warmer-than-average temperatures, especially in the central and southern Plains where daytime highs could be 15 to 20 degrees above average with highs in the 60s and 70s for much of Texas on Christmas Day.