First Snow: Plains, Lakes, South?

UPDATE: We have created this snow map which more specifically shows where we expect snow to fall this week:

ORIGINAL POST:

This week heralds the return of winter to the Northern Plains and Great Lakes, with significant snow falling in some areas. But some Forecast Models [JessePedia] are predicting snowflakes down the spine of the Appalachians, possibly into the Deep South.

The NAM model has no problem with light snow (probably flurries) falling all the way down through Kentucky and Tennessee on Thursday evening (which is as far as the model forecasts out) :

But the GFS model is more aggressive, spying moderate snow into the mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee, and even northern Georgia and Alabama Thursday night. Of course, some would say the GFS model always overdoes winter weather, so I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Like in the Plains, any snow that falls outside of the highest mountains will likely not accumulate due to warm ground temperatures.

The winter weather maps above are a great example of how AccuWeather.com Professional gives you human-readable forecast model maps, in addition to the largest selection of meteorological maps around. Check it out with a 30-day trial today.

So what's the official AccuWeather.com forecast? The first snow will be seen from Minnesota through the Dakotas and as far south as Nebraska Tuesday night into Wednesday.

To quote from our Weather Headlines:

After that, lake-effect snow will take over as the storm system moves into the Northeast. Snowflakes are a sure bet from Wisconsin and Michigan eastward to typically favored parts of New York and Pennsylvania.