Rain, Snow, Bitter Cold On Menu For Northeast
Winter’s snow machine continues for the Northeast and Great Lakes this week as a series of systems pulls across the region.
Not only snow, but Arctic air will surge southward as well, causing temperatures to dive across the eastern half of the country. This, along with strong winds, will create dangerous wind chills for millions.
Round 1: Through Thursday
The first system is moving through the East with snow and wind being most impactful in the Great Lakes. It will bring lingering snow into the interior portions of New England on Thursday while most of the rest of the East will be dry, but cold.
The heaviest snow will be downwind of the Great Lakes and into adjacent Ontario. Totals will likely surpass 5 inches along lakes Erie and Ontario from Cleveland to northern New York. The higher terrain in the Appalachians, generally above 3,000 feet, will pick up several inches of new snow. And more snow will add to these totals later in the week.
More widespread snow amounts will be in the 1- to 3-inch range, from the Midwest, through the Ohio Valley and into Interior New England.
Models are keeping the snow well away from the I-95 corridor with this round.
Round 2: Thursday – Saturday
The next round of snow will arrive in the Midwest and Great Lakes on Thursday before pushing eastward. Many of the same areas that see snow from the first system would receive snow from this one, adding to those snow totals.
This system will make its way to the Northeast and New England late Friday, into Saturday. We could see some snow fall across the I-95 corridor, which could make for messy driving conditions and possible airport delays. However, the models don’t agree yet on how much snow, if any, will accumulate.
Snow is expected to linger across portions of the Northeast through Sunday.
Confidence is high that temperatures will tumble. Highs on Thursday will be in the teens across the Great Lakes, 20s for the Ohio Valley and not even getting out of the 30s for portions of the Southeast.
Not only will temperatures plummet, but strong winds behind the cold front will send wind chills to dangerous levels for some locations. We could be talking about wind chills as low as 20-35 degrees below zero for portions of the Northern Plains. Even places like Pittsburgh and New York will experience wind chills in the teens and single digits.
Round 3: Sunday
Mother Nature isn’t finished yet! Towards the end of the weekend, a pair of systems will once again reinforce those chilly temperatures and bring another round of fresh snow for yet again, the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast.
One of the systems, like the first two, will pivot from central Canada across the Great Lakes and back into eastern Canada. It will bring generally lighter totals to the favored snowbelts around the Great Lakes.
The other system may come from the Southeast. It may develop into a coastal low just off the East Coast. A stronger storm could bring snow and wind to the I-95 corridor, but this chance is low.
Models are even beginning to pick up on accumulating snow for portions of the South.
(MORE: Southern Snow Threat Ahead?)
Models are uncertain about the timing and intensity of this one.
Putting It All Together
When it’s all said and done, some areas across the Great Lakes could pick up as much as 18 inches of snow for the week, with more widespread areas seeing at least a foot.
Also, take notice of the decent swath of snow stretching down the Appalachian Mountains. The higher elevations could pick up more than a foot of snow in some places.
We will keep fine-tuning these details as the week goes on, so check back often for updates.
Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world’s biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.
