Wintry mix may glaze roads in Upper Midwest, central Appalachians this weekend

Close on the heels of an arctic blast, a bit of snow and wintry mix will develop over the northern Plains and drift eastward across the Great Lakes region and central Appalachians as the weekend progresses.

The wintry mix will occur as the arctic air retreats. However, the arctic air will make some surfaces cold enough for a small, but slippery accumulation.

"Overnight temperatures this weekend will dip into the 20s, teens and single digits," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio.

While a heavy accumulation is not anticipated, just enough snow and sleet or freezing rain may occur to glaze some roads and sidewalks.

The light wintry mix is most likely to accumulate on roads and sidewalks that have not been treated with ice-melting compounds prior to the event. Motorists and pedestrians should be especially wary on elevated surfaces such as bridges, overpasses and porch steps.

The wintry precipitation, in the form of mostly snow, will break out over parts of the northern Plains and upper Great Lakes area on Saturday.

During Saturday night, this wintry mix may extend to portions of southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northern Indiana and the western part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. This includes the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.

All or mostly rain will fall over the Ohio Valley.

"On Sunday, the wintry mix is likely to reach the Detroit, Cleveland and London, Ontario, areas," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

Parts of Pennsylvania as well as western and central New York state, northeastern West Virginia and western Maryland may receive the wintry mix Sunday night.

By the time the mechanism causing the light mix reaches the Atlantic Seaboard, it will likely run into too much dry air and fall apart. Areas from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia and New York City may be spared from any snow or ice with the event on Monday.

How quickly this feature regroups over the Atlantic Ocean will determine whether or not a modest storm spins up and hooks northward with a chance of snow and rain in eastern New England or the Maritime Provinces of Canada prior to the middle of next week.

In typical November fashion, the atmosphere has become primed for multiple storms through the end of the month. November often mirrors March in terms of temperature swings and wintry precipitation frequency.

There is the potential for a major storm to spin up from the Great Lakes to the Northeast coast in the days prior to Thanksgiving. A southward extension of the polar vortex may assist in the matter.

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