Snow to blanket swath from Pittsburgh to New York City into early Thursday

An Alberta clipper will spread accumulating snow and slippery travel across the mid-Atlantic into early Thursday.

An Alberta clipper is a storm that originates from the western provinces of Canada, usually Alberta. These storms are generally fast-moving, bring cold air and have only limited moisture to work with. The snow tends to occur over a 4- to 8-hour period. However, even a small amount of snow with plunging temperatures can lead to slippery travel.

The clipper storm swinging through the mid-Atlantic into Thursday morning is a bit more robust than most in terms of moisture. In a narrow zone, the snow may accumulate at the rate of an inch per hour.

The storm has had a history of producing 3-6 inches of snow from northeastern Minnesota to Michigan and Ohio.

Enough snow to shovel and plow is forecast as the storm moves along through Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and part of southeastern New York state.

Airline passengers connecting in or flying from or to Cleveland, Pittsburgh and New York City may experience flight delays due to aircraft deicing and runway cleaning operations.

"As we have often seen with these clipper storms, there will be a very sharp cutoff between accumulating snow to the north and flurries or rain showers to the south," according to AccuWeather Lead Snow Warning Meteorologist Brian Wimer.

New York City; Long Island, New York, and the southern coast of New England are likely to sneak into the zone where enough snow may fall to cause slippery travel into Thursday morning.

At this time, accumulating snow is likely to remain south of Albany, New York, and Boston. However, snow will fall and accumulate in parts of the Catskills and the lower Hudson Valley, as well as the south coast of Connecticut. A coating of snow cannot be ruled out around Hartford, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island.

Any north or south shift in the track of the clipper storm by as little as 50 miles can make a difference between flurries or rain showers and an inch or two of snow.

People who commute to Washington, D.C., and Baltimore from the northwest may want to allow for extra travel time for Thursday morning's rush hour. Likewise, people who commute to Philaelphia and New York City may want to do the same.

Portions of Interstate 68, I-70, I-78, I-81, I-95, I-99, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the New Jersey Turnpike may be slippery into Thursday morning.

Since the storm will be followed by arctic air, some surfaces will be cold and subject to a freeze-up.

Another weak clipper storm has a chance of grabbing enough moisture to affect parts of the Great Lakes region with a bit of snow later Thursday into Friday.

A third clipper storm may affect part of the Upper Midwest on Saturday.

The clock is ticking on the persistence of arctic air and frequency of Alberta clipper storms.

There are some signs the busy pattern may retreat farther to the north and west next week.

However, this may still bring opportunities for snow and an icy mix to northern New England, the central Appalachians and Great Lakes in the days prior to Christmas. Snow opportunities may ramp up over parts of the northern Plains during the same period.

In the meantime, lake-effect snow will be nearly a daily occurrence over the Upper Midwest and interior Northeast.

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