Areas from Nashville to New York will be hit by another round of snow later this week
By Jennifer Gray, CNN meteorologist
The early week storm — that brought up to a foot of snow in some places in the east and stranded motorists on a major interstate — has pushed off the East Coast. Now another system — that hasn’t formed quite yet — will round out the week with additional snowfall — this time, New York City could be in the mix.
“There should be plenty of cold air in place for any precipitation from this event to fall in the form of snow or some type of wintry mix,” said the National Weather Service office in NYC. “The main question is just how much precipitation we get with this system and much of that will depend on exactly how close the storm tracks to the coast.”
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The powerful storm taking shape in the northwest
That low has a long way to travel before ending up on the East Coast. It’s still getting organized in the west and will leave quite a mark.
Twenty million people from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest are under winter weather alerts.
In the Pacific Northwest, two to four feet of snow is forecast from the Cascades through the central Rockies by Wednesday night.
Not much snow is expected for the lower elevations in the Pacific Northwest, if anything. Most snow amounts will be less than an inch.
A quick but strong Midwest storm
For the Midwest, a separate storm will whip through, with winds being one of the biggest concerns. The strongest winds will kick in overnight into Wednesday morning, with “Sustained winds at 20 to 30 mph and gusts upwards of 40 to 50 look reasonable at this time,” said the NWS office in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The current snow depth is two to four inches in this area, according to the NWS office in La Crosse, and one to three inches of additional snow will likely fall with this next system.
“Have some (serious) concerns that white-out conditions could develop in the wind prone areas of southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa overnight-through the morning rush,” said the NWS office in La Crosse. “A 3-5 hour window of 1/4 mile blizzard conditions can’t be ruled out.”
Fresh snowfall amounts for the Upper Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes will be anywhere between four to eight inches.
Parts of the Upper Great Lakes could see closer to a foot of additional snow by Thursday morning.
The mid-South and mid-Atlantic face round two of snow
Thursday, as a cold front dives south and east out of the Rockies, the Appalachian states will once again be impacted by winter weather.
“Yep, looks like old man winter will be taking another swing at the mid state on Thursday,” said the NWS office in Nashville. “This will provide the textbook clash of moisture and cold to provide snowfall to the middle TN area.”
Areas around Nashville could pick up about an inch of snow, with areas to the north seeing as much as three inches.
As the storm travels east, the mid-Atlantic will once again be in the mix.
Including places along I-95 that have been impassible with the early-week system.
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Areas in Virginia that saw dramatic snowfall totals will see plenty of sunshine today and tomorrow, with temperatures getting above freezing.
However, it shouldn’t be enough warmth to melt all the snow, and what does melt could refreeze, keeping roads icy and dangerous just ahead of the next system.
With another storm system on the way, an additional two to four inches will be possible Thursday night into Friday morning for the mid-Atlantic and portions of the Northeast and even southern New England.
Taking aim at the Northeast and New England
“Right now the best chance of precipitation looks to occur during the second half of Thursday night into the Friday morning time frame,” said the NWS office in NYC. “Setting up what could be an impactful Friday morning commute.”
The snowfall amounts will largely depend on how closely the area of low pressure tracks along the coast.
If it tracks closer, then the precipitation amounts will be higher.
Confidence is quite low for exactly where the snow will set up, but the forecast will be much more certain within the next 48-hours.
Even areas around Boston could pick up several inches of snow, while some models are placing three to five inches of snow along the I-95 corridor in New England.
But to see if that actually plays out, we will have to stay tuned.
Temperatures 25-40 degrees below normal
Temperatures will dive behind this blast of arctic air across the Northern Plains.
Many areas won’t see temperatures above the single digits before the end of the week.
The coldest temperatures are expected Friday morning for the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains.
“Possibly the coldest temperatures of the season so far, with lows dropping down into the -20s for much of south-central and southeast Montana,” said the NWS office in Billings.
Chicago will stay in the teens and single digits for Thursday and Friday, then quickly warm back up above freezing by Saturday afternoon.
As the cold air travels south, Nashville will see its temperatures plummet below freezing on Thursday, with highs only in the upper 20s on Friday.
Washington, DC, could even stay below freezing on Thursday and Friday before warming back up on Saturday.
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