AccuWeather.com

By Brian Edwards, Meteorologist

Feb 11, 2012; 10:40 AM ET

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Photo courtesy of Photos.com.

Two separate storm systems will continue to cause travel headaches from eastern Maine to Cleveland into this evening before snow tapers off overnight.

Until then, residents across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast are dealing with slippery road conditions along with a cold, blustery wind.

Coastal Storm

A storm system which AccuWeather.com meteorologists have been watching for the last several days will continue to produce a swath of snow from coastal Massachusetts through Downeast Maine.

This snow will generally produce light snow accumulations as the heaviest snow remains offshore over the north Atlantic Ocean.

Residents and visitors to Cape Cod can expect just another dusting or so before the snow tapers off.

Parts of Downeast Maine will also pick up additional accumulations of snow with 1-3 inches expected in cities such as Bar Harbor and Eastport, Maine.

Snow will taper off into this evening from southwest to northeast this evening leaving behind a much colder air mass and a gusty wind to wrap up the weekend.

However, the storm itself will take a left turn into Atlantic Canada tonight producing near blizzard conditions across portions of New Brunswick, the Gaspe Peninsula, some of the eastern townships of Quebec and Labrador according to Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

Arctic Cold Front and Rapid Freeze-Up Potential

Farther to the south and west, an arctic cold front and associated wave of low pressure will track through the mid-Atlantic this afternoon into this evening.

This front will be the leading edge of a much colder air mass which will build in from the Great Lakes and Canada.

Before the arctic air makes it into the mid-Atlantic, residents will be dealing with a generally light snow regime with some embedded squalls.

The problem with this kind of a setup is that a band of briefly heavy snow squalls is currently tracking across central and eastern Maryland in the Delmarva Peninsula.

The squalls can drop a quick 0.50 to 1 inch of snow on non-paved surfaces along with a brief reduction of visibility to below a quarter of a mile.

With temperatures still rather mild across areas south of the Mason/Dixon line, the snow could actually briefly be mixed with rain as this band moves through.

If roadways become wet as expected, there may be significant problems with wet roads freezing this evening as much colder air filters in behind the departing front.

Not only could wet roadways freeze throughout the mid-Atlantic but another round of more organized light snow is likely to slide from central and northern Pennsylvania into eastern Maryland, the Delmarva Peninsula, southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey this evening. This more organized snow could cover area roadways and mask the ice that does develop.

Residents throughout the mid-Atlantic, especially east of the Appalachian Mountains, should be on the lookout for rapidly changing weather conditions this afternoon.

Keep checking back with AccuWeather.com as we keep you updated on mid-Atlantic snows into this evening.