Cold to return to the Northeast this weekend
This early morning surface map shows a high pressure area over eastern Canada and a low pressure area north of Little Rock Arkansas. Although the high pressure area marks the core of a cold air mass, a southwest flow aloft will allow the high pressure area to depart as the low pressure area moves northeastward. Rain will spread eastward from the Ohio Valley today, with the biggest threat coming from ice from upstate New York and parts of New England. There will also be areas of dense fog from Illinois to the Middle Atlantic states today and tonight.
The last push of cold air did not go very far past Pennsylvania, but the next cold onslaught will advance much farther south. Temperatures this weekend from Chicago to New York will range from the teens and 20s and western areas to the 20s and 30s farther east. East Coast snow lovers have been rather frustrated so far this winter but as the forecast video shows, that could change a bit next week.
Thunderstorms are not very common in the middle of winter but with warm air making inroads for the Southern states, there has been an outbreak of thunderstorms since yesterday. The map below shows nearly 4,000 lightning strikes that occurred in less than 12 hours. The map following the lightning shows the thunderstorm threat between now and Thursday morning.
Cloudiness will dominate the Northeast for the next few days. East coast cities to be wet at times while areas farther inland are threatened by ice.
