Chilly air to trigger lake-effect snow in northeastern US

As colder air sweeps into the northeastern United States, temperatures will settle to seasonable levels with lake-effect snow showers continuing into Saturday night.

Cold air will be blown southward from Canada and into the Northeast on gusty winds during the first part of the weekend.

The air will feel colder than the actual temperature much of the time with AccuWeather RealFeel® temperatures as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the actual temperature. AccuWeather RealFeel® temperatures can dip into the teens in the northern tier and to the 30s during the daytime along the mid-Atlantic coast this weekend.

Less wind will blow on Sunday than Saturday with the diminishing of snow showers also following suit.

Before ending, the lake-effect snow showers will accumulate an additional inch or two in the higher terrain of the Tug Hill region of upstate New York and the northern Green Mountains from Saturday afternoon to Saturday night.

Travelers should prepare for some roads to be slippery.

Any accumulations in other traditional lake-effect areas will generally be minor and confined to grassy surfaces.

Little or no snowflakes are likely to reach the swath from Boston to Washington, D.C.

By Sunday, highs will range from the middle 20s in northern New England to the upper 40s to perhaps near 50 along the mid-Atlantic's I-95 corridor. The only consolation is that most areas on the Atlantic coast will be sunny with little wind when compared to Saturday.

Looking ahead, changes taking place in the weather pattern across western Canada will set the stage for much colder air to push southward into the United States during the first full week of December.

"The coldest air of the season so far will settle first over the northern Rockies and Plains and will then push to much of the Southern and Eastern states," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

By the end of next week, highs may be in the 20s around Chicago.

The cold outbreak may be preceded by another surge of warmth with rain along the Atlantic Seaboard during the middle part of next week. The rain may fall as a wintry mix across the interior.

Content to this story contributed by AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.

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