Heavy rainfall expected in Northeast and Northwest over the weekend

Heavy rain is expected to hit the Northeast and Northwest this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. As much as two inches of rain is expected to fall on Saturday alone across the Northeast, while the opposite coast could get up to five inches. 

The rainfall in the east will mostly affect the northern Mid-Atlantic and southern New England. The heavy precipitation could cause flooding in portions of northern Virginia and central Maryland. According to the Weather Channel, some minor flooding could also occur in some coastal areas from Delaware to Connecticut.

"A large upper level low pressure system will be responsible for the wet and wintry weather many residents of the Great Lakes and Northeast will experience today," reports the National Weather Service. 

The wet weekend is on par with the "wetter-than-average" winter predicted by NOAA's winter outlook in October. The wet winter is expected to continue across the Northern Tier of the U.S. throughout February.

Along with the rain, parts of the Northeast and Midwest will also experience a wintry mix of snow and ice. Snow and freezing rain in the central and northern Appalachians, coupled with snow accumulations up to one inch, could be problematic for travelers in the region. 

The slow moving "large upper level low pressure system" is expected to last throughout the weekend. By Sunday, the system will move northeast, ushering in drier and somewhat colder air from the Midwest. 

The Pacific Northwest will continue to experience heavy rainfall due to a cold front moving off of the Pacific Ocean over the weekend. "In addition to the rain, heavy snow will fall over the higher peaks of the Washington and Oregon Cascades where as much as 2 feet of new snowfall can be expected through the weekend," the NWS reports. 

The last days of January will also deliver uncharacteristically mild weather across the Midwest. According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, the relatively mild January weather is due to a milder upstream system moving east from the Pacific — not from the Arctic. 

With a lack of cold high pressure coming from Canada, temperatures will remain only within a few degrees of average, or above normal, across the contiguous U.S., including the Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley. 

"The warmest anomalies will be focused over the High Plains, Upper Midwest, and Great Lakes regions," according to the NWS.  

Despite an abnormally warm start to the year overall, parts of the northern Rockies and western Great Lakes will receive several inches of snow on Saturday. 

In:
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• AccuWeather
• Flood