Clipper and coastal storms to deliver snow, slippery travel to Northeast prior to Christmas
Accumulating snow from a Midwest clipper storm is on the move and has eyes for the Northeast prior to the end of the week. And, in some areas, a coastal storm will join in and expand wintry travel problems.
Minnesota and Wisconsin were covered with fresh snow throughout the day on Dec. 19, before the wintry weather continued through Illinois.
A storm traveling all the way from western Canada and a new storm brewing along the Atlantic coast will team up to bring areas of accumulating snow and slippery travel from Friday to early Saturday to the northeastern United States. AccuWeather meteorologists warn some of the worst conditions may occur during a busy travel time.
A storm with accumulating snow is tracking southeastward across the Midwest. Fargo, North Dakota, Minneapolis and Madison, Wisconsin, have received several inches of snow.
A few inches of snow fell in Milwaukee and Detroit Thursday evening and continued into Friday morning. Accumulations around Chicago ranged from a coating to as much as a few inches.
Even farther south, along Interstate 70, the storm will bring periods of snow and snow showers into Friday night, with a coating to an inch or two of snow accumulating in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio.
Conditions became more complex as the clipper storm reached the central Appalachians later Friday and Friday night. It continued to produce areas of snow and snow showers. However, the snow became a bit more chaotic with a general coating of an inch or two from West Virginia, northern Maryland and northern Virginia to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, central and southern New York and southwestern New England. Pockets where a moderate to heavy amount of snow fell, on the order of several inches, occurred in this zone.
"The danger is the snow can quickly erupt and come down at a steady clip in some areas during the afternoon and evening rush hour on Friday in the Northeast," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. The risk included the metro areas of New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia, Allentown, Scranton and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Just as the general weekend traffic picks up along with those heading out for Christmas travel, a steadier rate of snow quickly covered the ground as road surfaces cool. A slippery mess with travel slowing to a crawl as well as accidents occurred on many major roads.
Coastal storm to brew
While the clipper storm alone will cause its share of slippery travel, the coastal storm brought a period of heavy snow with increasing winds to eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Down East Maine and the with a bit of heavier snow reaching back across portions of Long Island, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southwestern Maine spanning Friday night to Saturday morning.
A plowable snowfall could occur in Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, as well as perhaps even Hartford, Connecticut; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Portland, Maine.
AccuWeather meteorologists projected that 3-6 inches of snow will fall in the Boston area, with the greatest amounts away from the immediate coast. A report of 6 inches at Fenway Park in Boston was reported Friday night.
"Conditions around New York City are tricky," Rayno said. "They can get a coating to an inch or two of snow from the clipper storm, perhaps a bit more if the coastal storm tracks farther west, the clipper storm remains active, or they could be in a rip-off zone where nothing to a few flurries occur."
Because of the vast amount of paved surfaces in Midtown Manhattan, it may be difficult for much snow to accumulate, except on grassy areas.
There will be one more sneaky round of snow with an opportunity to deliver a coating to an inch or two along the Interstate 95 mid-Atlantic corridor from Philadelphia to New York City. That last gasp will be a storm at the jet stream level of the atmosphere, pivoting from the central Appalachians late Friday night to the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts first thing Saturday morning.
As the coastal storm strengthens and moves over Atlantic Canada, blizzard conditions and heavy snow will unfold on Saturday while gusty winds in the region will draw much colder air southward.
Astronomical winter officially arrives at 4:20 a.m. EST on Saturday.
There's a good chance that where snow falls into Saturday, it may stick around until Christmas morning in at least part of the region.
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