Say goodbye to spring — a major weather pattern shift is coming | CNN

A drastic weather pattern change is about to induce an acute case of weather whiplash for most of the country. During the next few days, a record-setting Western heat wave will settle in while winterlike cold returns to the East. The heat wave in the West will dominate weather headlines for at least two weeks starting Thursday, as numerous locations are likely to set all-time heat records for the month of March. The heat will melt the West’s already well-below-average snowpack, raising concerns for spring and summer water resources and a potentially severe wildfire season. The heat all but assures that Colorado and Utah will have their lowest snowpack on record. “We’re going to get to April first and we’re going to see some very scary snowpack numbers essentially everywhere” across the West, University of California climate scientist Daniel Swain said this week. The heat, which is already building in the Southwest, comes courtesy of a strong area of high pressure, or ridge in the upper atmosphere, also known as a heat dome. This weather feature is likely to park over the West without moving much for up to two weeks. Downstream of the heat dome, the jet stream will dive so