It's back to reality as snow breaks out in the Rockies later Thursday and Thursday night. This storm will have far reaching effects with snow eventually moving out into the Plains Friday and into the weekend. Now, there are a few ideas as to how this storm moves eastward. One idea is that the system does not strengthen a great deal and quickly moves eastward with just a few inches of snow possible. The other idea shows this system deepening and heavier snow developing over eastern Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and extending northeastward to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
Starting Thursday and continuing into Friday will be moderate to heavy in a few places. One to three inches of snow will fall over the northern Rockies from Montana into northwest Wyoming as well as eastward through central Nebraska. Three to six inches will fall over southeastern Wyoming into the northern Rockies and eastward to western Nebraska with an area of 6-12 inches through the higher elevations from the south-central Wyoming Rockies into the Colorado Rockies.
As a side note, during the day Friday there will be some light snow through southern and eastern Nebraska, and there could be some accumulation on grass, but roads during the day will probably not have too many problems. It's one of the nicer aspects of March, that lighter snowfall during the day has a difficult time causing road problems.
Friday night into Saturday this storm will gain momentum, strengthening in the southern Plains. Snow will develop on the back side of the low. Moderate snowfall will occur from northeastern Oklahoma and southeast Kansas to northwest Arkansas spreading northward to southeast Iowa, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Generally 3-6 inches will fall with this storm with 1-3 inches outside of this area, but mainly to the west from east-central Kansas to Nebraska and the rest of Iowa. There is the potential for more snowfall if this system deepens at the right time of day. It would not be unsurprising for some areas to have more than 6 inches.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Carl Erickson
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