The wintry trough remains the main player in U.S. weather this week as snow, damaging winds and cold temperatures spread south and east. The daily briefing is published every weekday at 5 a.m. ET.

We're still talking about a low-pressure trough bringing a wintry blast to many across the eastern two-thirds. The WeatherRadar shows snow spreading throughout the northern and central Plains through the Ohio Valley this morning. It will move south and east throughout the day, reaching the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by this afternoon.

Some spots will have rain first, like in the lower Ohio Valley and the southern Appalachians, before it turns snowy as cold air moves in. Rain, however, is expected across the Deep South this evening.

The windstorm happening in the Plains peaks today. The WindRadar shows gusts reaching up to 70 mph in the High Plains as well as the western portions of the northern and central Plains. Albeit not as fast, gusty winds will reach as far south as Texas and continue east throughout the day.

The West remains quiet with above-average temperatures.

Highs in the 30s and 40s stretch from the central Plains to the Northeast and down to the Carolinas, as well as throughout the Mountain West. More mild 50s, 60s and low 70s will be found along the Pacific Northwest Coast, northern California, the Southeast and Florida, with warmer highs in the mid-70s to low 80s in southern California, the southern Plains and the Deep South. The northern Plains and the Upper Midwest will only make it into the teens and 20s.

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