At a Glance

The next snowmaker will follow on the heels of Winter Storm Oliver. It will bring snow to parts of the West and Southwest through the end of this week. Snow and ice are then likely in parts of the Midwest and Plains this weekend.

An area of low pressure willtrack through the central Plains and Midwest this weekend with another dose of heavy snow and a bit more ice.

This winter storm has been named. To find the latest on Winter Storm Polly, .

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This latest round of wintry weather comes on the heels of , which helped carve out a deep dip in the jet stream over the West last weekend. The low-pressure system associated with this next burst of snow is nowridingthat trough southward from the far eastern Pacific into the Southwest.

Instead of swinging eastward like many troughs do this time of year, the troughof low pressure is lodged in place from the Southwest to the northern Plainsdue to a building and stagnant dome of high pressure located over the Southeast.

Storm systems from the west, like Winter Storm Oliver, are having to go northward and over that dome of high pressure, and this next wintry system will do much of the same. By this weekend, the system will transit the Plains into the Midwest and potentially into New England.

Timing Out the Next Wintry System

Friday

The low pressure system will round the bottom of the dip in the jet stream, or cross from Southern California to northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Snowfall is expected in the Four Corners region with lower-elevation rain. Friday night, this wintry system will begin to cross the central Plains. Snow will continue in the southern Rockies while spreading into Nebraska and northwestern Kansas. A strip of ice may begin to develop in parts of thecentral Plains into northern Illinois late Friday. Snow levels should generally be low with this system.

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Saturday

The low-pressure system will cross from the southern Rockies into the Midwest. Snow will fall on the northern side of this system from the central Plains into the upper Midwest. A few flurries could also fly in portions of far northern New York and northern New England. Don't put too much focus just yet on the exact placement of the rain/snow line, but generally, a stripe of ice or sleet is possible from northern Kansas and northern Missouri into Iowa and northwestern Illinois. Saturday night, snow, or a rain/snow mix, is expected across much of the upper Midwest into the northern Great Lakes. Some wintry precipitation is also possible in portions of northern New York into Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Sunday

This wintry system will begin to push out of the United States and into Canada during the day. Snow will continue from parts of the northern Great Lakes into southern Canada and northern New England. A stripe of ice or sleet will delineate the warmer air from the colder air from northern New York into northern andcentral New England. Snow showers may persist in northern Maine through the early part of Monday.

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Snowfall Forecast

Snowamounts will not be super impressive in the Mountain West, but much-needed snowfall will occur across the southern Rockies. The heaviest snowfall amounts will be in the centralRockies, where up to an additional foot of snow is expected through Saturday, with the highest elevations possibly picking up more than a foot. In the Midwest, a band of real estate from northern Nebraska through much of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan will receive 5-10 inches of snow. A few localized spots may see more than 10 inches.

Snowfall Totals So Far

California: 10.5 inches in Kirkwood;6 inches in Kingvale; 2.0 inches in Truckee Nevada:9 inches near Sutcliffe; 7.0 inches in Stead; 5.5 inches in Cold Springs Valley Oregon:7.2 inches in Merlin; 7.0 inches in Gold Hill; 3.5 inches near Medford; 1.8 inches in Portland Washington:6.1 inches near Bonney Lake; 2.5 inches in Tacoma; 1 inch in Seattle;