The long range models are picking up on a storm set to fly east across the center of the country on the 23rd and 24th. This could be a Christmas Eve storm for those east of the Mississippi, but the GFS, ECMWF, and GEM are not in agreement on timing. The 12Z GFS this morning accelerated the storm and tightened it up a bit from the 00Z run. The ECMWF and GEM are slower, not bringing most of the system past (at least my area...IA) until early on the 24th as opposed to late on the 23rd. This is a pacific system, so it is sure to have more moisture with it. It also resembles the same system that unofficially started winter in IA last year, remaining an open wave through a good portion of its travel across the CONUS. There don't appear to be any arctic outbreaks to clear the eastern half of the country between now and then, so the stage may be set for a big snow event across portions of the Midwest and Great Lakes regions as well as the mid-Atlantic.
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