Early week storm to spread snow, gusty winds from Great Lakes to Northeast
Pre-holiday travel may be impacted and chances for a White Christmas to increase as a clipper storm plows through the Great Lakes and Northeast early this week.
Wintry weather in the Northeast led to thousands of flight delays on Dec. 20, but how can you prepare for other busy times in the days ahead? We speak with FlightAware to find out.
As the Christmas holiday rapidly approaches and celebrations begin, residents across the Northeast are projected to have pre-holiday storminess, AccuWeather forecasters say.
While the incoming storm may pose challenges to some travelers across the region, it will also increase the chances for snow-lovers to see a White Christmas.
Early week storm can disrupt travelers
From Monday to Tuesday, a clipper storm will roll across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast, bringing gifts of snowflakes and blustery winds throughout the region. Forecasters say that a general 1-3 inches of snow is expected to accrue from northern Wisconsin to northern Pennsylvania and Downeast Maine, while 3-6 inches can fall from northern Michigan into the Adirondacks, Green and White Mountains into New England.
"The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ is currently set at 15 inches for the storm that tracks eastward from Sunday night to Tuesday, with the highest snowfall totals expected across northern Michigan into southern Ontario," detailed AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
Along the southern flank of the storm into parts of the Ohio Valley, wet snowflakes will mix with raindrops before changing to plain rain and showers farther south. Residents in cities like Chicago are likely to see a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain into Monday morning.
As the storm advances eastward into Detroit, periods of rain and snow mixing to the south of the city Monday afternoon will change over to snow flurries Monday evening as temperatures drop. When the precipitation begins, there may also be some ice in Detroit.
By Tuesday morning, places such as Baltimore and Philadelphia can see a period of sleet mixed with snow. Commuters across the region should stay weather-aware and be careful for slick conditions, particularly on elevated surfaces like bridges and overpasses.
On Monday, the quick-moving storm will continue to produce cold, blustery winds across the southern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley as the main piece of energy pushes from Wisconsin into Michigan. In general, similar wind gusts are expected across portions of the Ohio Valley into western New York on Monday.
On Tuesday, offshore breezes will be less intense and confined to the Interstate 95 corridor, including the coastal regions from Maine to Maryland.
Clipper storm eventually departs on Christmas Eve
The storm will advance offshore from coastal New England throughout the daytime hours on Christmas Eve. Any lingering snow showers in portions of Pennsylvania, New York and northern New England will gradually come to an end as afternoon and evening festivities start up.
Behind the storm, high pressure will build southward from Canada over the Northeast, promoting largely dry weather from the Ohio Valley through most or all of New England locations by late Tuesday. However, much of the interior Northeast will remain mostly cloudy into the evening hours on Christmas Eve.
Southern Plains storm advances northward
Into midweek, a separate storm will nudge northward from the Mississippi Valley to areas of the Great Lakes. While this next storm will spread mainly rain across the region, the northern fringes of moisture that expand into the cold air mass will pose a risk of a rain and snow mixture or even plain snow showers for some across Michigan or portions of Wisconsin.
The pattern of storms advancing out of the South Central states into the Midwest will continue from mid-to late week, forecasters say. Another storm from Thursday to Friday can follow along a similar storm track, bringing a swath of mainly rain as temperatures trend higher than this weekend and early week.
Widespread highs will range into the 40s to 50s F across the southern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley later this week, a noticeable difference from the early week values that are expected to be in the 20s and 30s F.
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