Swift-Moving Snow to Couple Frigid Air From Buffalo to Boston

An Alberta Clipper producing light snow will streak into the Northeast early Friday with a period of accumulating snow and slow travel in some areas.

As waves of arctic air continue to roll into the northeastern half of the nation, a new storm originating from western Canada will sweep through the northern tier states before the end of the week.

This time the swath of accumulating snow will fall much farther to the north, when compared to the storm from Monday into Tuesday.

Storms of this nature rarely bring a heavy accumulation due to their fast movement and lack of moisture.

However, brief bands of accumulating snow will extend south of the storm track.

Gusty winds will be associated with this storm on its southern flank and in its wake. Even with a small amount of snow forecast and existing snow on the ground can produce local whiteouts and ground blizzards, when factoring in wind gusts ranging between 20 and 40 mph.

The storm will disrupt some of the heavy lake-effect snow forecast over Michigan, northwestern Indiana and northeastern Ohio during the middle of the week.

The storm will continue on to the Northeast on Friday after focusing on the Midwest on Thursday.

According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek, "It is possible it snows hard for a few hours with up to a few inches accumulation over portions of upstate New York to as far south as central interior New England."

Motorists along the New York Thruway to the Massachusetts Turnpike, and interstates 91, 93 and 95 in northern New England should be prepared for a slippery commute early on Friday.

A brief period of snow can coat some roads as far south as Washington, D.C., and Baltimore Friday morning. Motorists should plan ahead and allow some extra time for the commute as just enough snow may fall to cause travel delays.

As the storm moves eastward, bands of lake-effect snow that linger will shift position rather quickly.

In the wake of the storm, another push of cold air will follow on Friday into Saturday with gusty winds. This will turn on the lake-effect snow machine once again, adding to the snow totals this week.

Some locations in New York state, south of Buffalo and between Watertown and Syracuse will pick up 2-4 feet of snow through Saturday evening.

The air behind the clipper will not be quite as cold as that of Wednesday into Thursday.

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