First snow, wintry travel of the season upcoming for Midwest and Northeast
Winter coats and snow shovels may be needed across the Midwest and Northeast into the early week as the coldest air so far this season sets the stage for multiple rounds of snow.
In today’s Forecast Feed, AccuWeather’s Bernie Rayno takes a look at an upcoming stretch of December-like weather for the central and eastern United States.
The coldest air of the season so far is set to plunge into the Midwest and interior Northeast beginning this weekend, bringing rounds of snow, potentially coating some roads with slush and offering an early reminder of hazardous winter conditions.
Through early Tuesday, periods of snow could coat roads with slush and cause localized travel disruptions, especially during the overnight and early-morning hours. In the snowiest spots from this weekend to Tuesday, several inches of snow to even a foot will pile up. This will be the first widespread wintry event for many areas.
On Saturday, an Alberta clipper moved southeastward from Canada along the advancing cold air mass, producing a swath of accumulating snow from South Dakota to Michigan. Through Sunday night, the clipper will advance to the east, bringing snow from Illinois to portions of Canada.
Snowfall accumulations will range from a small amount of slush on grassy surfaces, where snow is intermittent or mixed with rain for a time, to a few inches where snow falls heavily.
Detroit will be close to the zone where the storm gains a bit of strength and begins to produce snow at a more substantial rate from Saturday night to Sunday. A coating to an inch of snow is forecast for metro Detroit, with 3-6 inches expected well to the north and west of the city.
Should the snow fall at a heavy rate for a few hours at either location or in the areas in between, widespread slippery conditions and snow-covered roads may develop.
As the clipper storm turns the corner and shifts northward over eastern Canada, some of the heaviest snow of the pattern will fall on areas from central Ontario to southern Quebec. Snow accumulation may ramp up quickly just north of Toronto and Montreal, with several inches to a foot or more possible this weekend.
This clipper storm is not the only system expected to bring accumulating snow in the coming days.
As a big dip in the jet stream opens the door for cold air to expand across the Eastern states from Sunday night to Tuesday morning, the cold air passing over the warm waters of the Great Lakes will lead to lines of snow showers, known as lake-effect snow, that extend well inland.
From Sunday night into Monday morning, an intense band of lake-effect snow will develop off the south shore of Lake Michigan and move through places like Chicago and Gary, Indiana.
Several inches to a foot of snow are forecast to accumulate along the Illinois and Indiana border. There will be pockets of intense snowfall coupled with times of near-zero visibility in the heaviest snow squalls.
Travel will be dangerous in some places, and impacts are expected to linger across downtown Chicago and the southern suburbs into the Monday morning commute.
Across the rest of the Great Lakes, some precipitation may fall as a rain-snow mix or wet snow that melts on contact with the ground initially. However, rain will quickly become snow, and where the bands of snow persist or extend across multiple lakes and become intense, a locally heavy snow accumulation can occur.
From Monday to Tuesday, areas southeast of lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron are most likely to pick up 3-6 inches of snow with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches.
“Along with the bands of lake-effect snow is the potential for briefly heavy snow squalls in portions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, western and central New York and northern West Virginia on Monday,” AccuWeather Vice President of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin said. “While most of the snow will melt quickly on area roads, the sudden drop in visibility and temporary slush can create dangerous conditions on the highways.”
Major multiple-vehicle pile-ups have occurred in the past under similar conditions with fast-moving snow squalls.
Even where snow does not accumulate, locally heavy snow showers may cause airline delays due to deicing operations across the interior Northeast and Great Lakes.
No accumulating snow is forecast to reach the Interstate 95 corridor of the Northeast. However, there is a chance of a stray snow shower occurring in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
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Snow showers may extend southward into the higher elevations of western Virginia, southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina this weekend, with a coating of snow possible.
The risk of lake-effect snow and sudden snow squalls is expected to diminish on Tuesday as the jet stream lifts and slightly warmer air moves in from the Plains to the Great Lakes.
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