Burst of snow to create slippery travel in northern Plains
By
Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jan 5, 2021 8:56 PM EDT
A storm that crashed into the West Coast on Monday and spread snow to the Rockies on Tuesday will still pack enough of a punch as it moves eastward to bring a narrow zone of accumulating snow and slippery travel to parts of the Plains during the middle of this week.
Areas from southern Montana to Wyoming, Utah and Colorado can expect a fresh snowfall with the storm into Tuesday night.
The snowfall will be rather brief in duration, so significant accumulations are not anticipated out side of lower elevations. Still, just enough to cause slick conditions on the roadways and minor disruptions is expected.
Accumulations are expected to generally range from 1 to 3 inches with higher totals on the order of 3 to 6 inches or more likely over the high country.
"Even portions of the Rockies that miss out on accumulating snow on Tuesday will still have some disruptive weather to deal with in the form of gusty winds," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said. "As the storm tracks across the Rockies, winds will pick up across the area and may reach hazardous levels for high-elevation areas."
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Wind gusts of 40-60 mph are likely to frequent the region, with higher gusts possible in the wind-prone areas.
Where gusty winds are blowing, visibility can be drastically reduced on the roadways due to blowing and drifting snow. This includes stretches of interstates 25 and 80.
The Colorado ski resorts will be on the receiving end of some fresh powder for the slopes, but accumulating snow should fall short of reaching the Denver metro area. At most, there may be a few sprinkles or flurries in the city Tuesday evening.
From Tuesday night into Wednesday, snowfall will shift farther to the east and break out over the northern Plains.
"Enough snow may fall across parts of the Dakotas and Nebraska to cover some roadways and prompt travel slowdowns. Motorists on portions of interstates 29, 90 and 94 will want to keep an eye to the sky for changing conditions Tuesday night into Wednesday," Gilbert said.
Accumulations are forecast to generally be on the lighter side for most of the area, but once again, forecasters caution that all it takes is a slippery covering on the roadways to lead to dangerous travel conditions.
An area of high pressure over the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley is likely to block the storm's northward progression, forcing it to take a more southern track. This will likely prevent any snow from reaching places such as Minneapolis and Chicago, but may push wintry weather farther south to locations such as Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri.
“The area from southern Missouri and northern Arkansas eastward to parts of southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee has the potential to receive accumulating snow from Thursday to Thursday night as the storm begins to manufacture its own cold air, rather than pull it in from the northern tier of the U.S.,” according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"Where the snow falls at a moderate to heavy pace, several inches of snow can pile up, especially on non-paved surfaces, but even some roads and sidewalks can get slippery," Sosnowski added.
As the storm reorganizes farther south and gains moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, it is likely to deliver yet another soaking rainfall to the already soggy Southeast later this week. But, once again, the storm may manufacture just enough cold air to bring snow to the southern Appalachians and Piedmont areas from Thursday to Friday.
The same storm is forecast to pull enough warm and moist air northward from the Gulf of Mexico to trigger heavy, gusty thunderstorms from the upper Texas coast to southern Louisiana from later Wednesday to Wednesday night.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Winter Weather
Burst of snow to create slippery travel in northern Plains
By Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jan 5, 2021 8:56 PM EDT
A storm that crashed into the West Coast on Monday and spread snow to the Rockies on Tuesday will still pack enough of a punch as it moves eastward to bring a narrow zone of accumulating snow and slippery travel to parts of the Plains during the middle of this week.
Areas from southern Montana to Wyoming, Utah and Colorado can expect a fresh snowfall with the storm into Tuesday night.
The snowfall will be rather brief in duration, so significant accumulations are not anticipated out side of lower elevations. Still, just enough to cause slick conditions on the roadways and minor disruptions is expected.
Accumulations are expected to generally range from 1 to 3 inches with higher totals on the order of 3 to 6 inches or more likely over the high country.
"Even portions of the Rockies that miss out on accumulating snow on Tuesday will still have some disruptive weather to deal with in the form of gusty winds," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said. "As the storm tracks across the Rockies, winds will pick up across the area and may reach hazardous levels for high-elevation areas."
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Wind gusts of 40-60 mph are likely to frequent the region, with higher gusts possible in the wind-prone areas.
Where gusty winds are blowing, visibility can be drastically reduced on the roadways due to blowing and drifting snow. This includes stretches of interstates 25 and 80.
The Colorado ski resorts will be on the receiving end of some fresh powder for the slopes, but accumulating snow should fall short of reaching the Denver metro area. At most, there may be a few sprinkles or flurries in the city Tuesday evening.
From Tuesday night into Wednesday, snowfall will shift farther to the east and break out over the northern Plains.
"Enough snow may fall across parts of the Dakotas and Nebraska to cover some roadways and prompt travel slowdowns. Motorists on portions of interstates 29, 90 and 94 will want to keep an eye to the sky for changing conditions Tuesday night into Wednesday," Gilbert said.
Accumulations are forecast to generally be on the lighter side for most of the area, but once again, forecasters caution that all it takes is a slippery covering on the roadways to lead to dangerous travel conditions.
Related:
An area of high pressure over the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley is likely to block the storm's northward progression, forcing it to take a more southern track. This will likely prevent any snow from reaching places such as Minneapolis and Chicago, but may push wintry weather farther south to locations such as Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri.
“The area from southern Missouri and northern Arkansas eastward to parts of southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee has the potential to receive accumulating snow from Thursday to Thursday night as the storm begins to manufacture its own cold air, rather than pull it in from the northern tier of the U.S.,” according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"Where the snow falls at a moderate to heavy pace, several inches of snow can pile up, especially on non-paved surfaces, but even some roads and sidewalks can get slippery," Sosnowski added.
As the storm reorganizes farther south and gains moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, it is likely to deliver yet another soaking rainfall to the already soggy Southeast later this week. But, once again, the storm may manufacture just enough cold air to bring snow to the southern Appalachians and Piedmont areas from Thursday to Friday.
The same storm is forecast to pull enough warm and moist air northward from the Gulf of Mexico to trigger heavy, gusty thunderstorms from the upper Texas coast to southern Louisiana from later Wednesday to Wednesday night.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo