Topsy-turvy weather could trigger whiplash in East around Christmas
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Dec 23, 2020 3:32 PM EDT
High winds and heavy snow from a blizzard impacted Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the early morning of Dec. 23.
Monday marked the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but Americans who live in the eastern United States will experience a couple of seasons in as many days toward the end of this week -- and the dramatic weather changes are set to give many a case of weather whiplash. Heavy rain will be followed by a bitter blast of cold air and even some snow from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.
The first major storm of the official winter season will bring rain and a flooding risk to most areas along the Eastern Seaboard -- and even some thunderstorms -- including in areas that were recently buried by the heaviest snowfall in years.
AccuWeather meteorologists have been monitoring the storm since late last week and warning about the potential for a surge of warmth, gusty winds, fog and flooding rainfall along the Atlantic coast. However, the storm is also expected to bring a brief period of snow at the tail end for some locations and a dramatic change to colder weather for all in its wake spanning Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The storm is forecast to take a northward track inland of the coast on Thursday and Friday. This track will allow milder air to flow northward along the Appalachians and warmer air to surge northward along the Atlantic coast with strong winds.
As warm air races northward on the east side of the storm, cold air will thrust southward on the west side of the storm.
Amid the topsy-turvy weather pattern late this week, cities such as New Orleans, Atlanta and Orlando, Florida, will turn colder much faster than cities such as Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. Temperatures are forecast to drop into the 40s F in New Orleans during Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, temperatures are likely to be surging into the 50s in Washington, D.C.
Temperatures are expected to plummet through the 30s and into the 20s in Atlanta during Thursday night as Santa begins his journey, but temperatures may hover in the balmy 50s in New York City. And even the high in Orlando on Friday may end up lower than the low temperature in Boston from Thursday night, with readings likely to be within a few degrees of 50 in both locations.
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The rapid southward thrust of cold air has an excellent chance of catching up with the back edge of the rain in the Appalachians and the western slopes of the Appalachians as the storm moves along during the day on Christmas Eve and at night.
"The storm is forecast to spread a narrow band of snow from northern Georgia to New England as colder air sweeps in," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
Even though a big amount of snow is not expected to fall on the storm's backside, a coating to up to a few inches of snow, combined with plummeting temperatures is projected to lead to a rapid freezeup and dangerous road conditions from the Appalachians on west. A layer of ice may form beneath the snow on paved and concrete surfaces.
Around Pittsburgh, temperatures are forecast to drop into the upper teens Thursday night and may struggle to rise more than a few degrees on Christmas Day. This will be a dramatic change after temperatures are expected to hover in the 40s much of the time from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon.
As the cold air takes root in the Southern states, a hard freeze is in store. It may turn cold enough to threaten frozen pipes during Thursday night and Friday night. The cold could pose a risk for some frost or freeze damage to tender berry crops in the central part of the Florida Peninsula by Saturday morning, AccuWeather forecasters are warning.
The cold air might just catch up to the back side of the storm for a couple of flurries in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City sometime on Christmas Day, but any flakes in Boston would not fall until sometime Friday night, if at all.
"When combined with the already well below-normal temperatures, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures could plummet well below zero Christmas Eve and Christmas Day all the way from the northern Plains through the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said.
At these temperatures, frostbite can set in on exposed skin in just a few minutes.
Factoring in the wind on the storm's backside and other conditions, it is likely RealFeel® Temperatures will be near zero in the central Appalachians and the teens over the interior South on Christmas Day.
The worst of the cold will settle eastward along the Atlantic coast in the Northeast on Christmas night and Saturday. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures are predicted to be in the teens.
As is usually the case when cold air flows across the Great Lakes, the lake-effect snow machine will be set into motion. This time, though, bands of lake-effect snowfall may not linger for very long at any one given location.
"There will be some lake effect, but the wind direction is likely to shift around due to a couple of trailing disturbances," Sojda said, explaining why the snow bands may not last very long before moving on.
At this time, the traditional snow belts from northeastern Ohio to northwestern Pennsylvania, western and northern New York state, as well as the western shores of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan should expect anywhere from a few inches of snow to a foot or so from Christmas Eve around the western Great Lakes to Christmas Day and Saturday farther to the east. Still, in a few of the snowiest spots, up to 24 inches of snow can pile up.
The cold blast and lake-effect snow will ease over the weekend, but as Sojda pointed out, there will be other weather systems that follow. AccuWeather meteorologists will be keeping a close eye on the late-week storm and trailing disturbances.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Topsy-turvy weather could trigger whiplash in East around Christmas
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Dec 23, 2020 3:32 PM EDT
High winds and heavy snow from a blizzard impacted Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the early morning of Dec. 23.
Monday marked the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but Americans who live in the eastern United States will experience a couple of seasons in as many days toward the end of this week -- and the dramatic weather changes are set to give many a case of weather whiplash. Heavy rain will be followed by a bitter blast of cold air and even some snow from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.
The first major storm of the official winter season will bring rain and a flooding risk to most areas along the Eastern Seaboard -- and even some thunderstorms -- including in areas that were recently buried by the heaviest snowfall in years.
AccuWeather meteorologists have been monitoring the storm since late last week and warning about the potential for a surge of warmth, gusty winds, fog and flooding rainfall along the Atlantic coast. However, the storm is also expected to bring a brief period of snow at the tail end for some locations and a dramatic change to colder weather for all in its wake spanning Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The storm is forecast to take a northward track inland of the coast on Thursday and Friday. This track will allow milder air to flow northward along the Appalachians and warmer air to surge northward along the Atlantic coast with strong winds.
As warm air races northward on the east side of the storm, cold air will thrust southward on the west side of the storm.
Amid the topsy-turvy weather pattern late this week, cities such as New Orleans, Atlanta and Orlando, Florida, will turn colder much faster than cities such as Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. Temperatures are forecast to drop into the 40s F in New Orleans during Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, temperatures are likely to be surging into the 50s in Washington, D.C.
Temperatures are expected to plummet through the 30s and into the 20s in Atlanta during Thursday night as Santa begins his journey, but temperatures may hover in the balmy 50s in New York City. And even the high in Orlando on Friday may end up lower than the low temperature in Boston from Thursday night, with readings likely to be within a few degrees of 50 in both locations.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
The rapid southward thrust of cold air has an excellent chance of catching up with the back edge of the rain in the Appalachians and the western slopes of the Appalachians as the storm moves along during the day on Christmas Eve and at night.
"The storm is forecast to spread a narrow band of snow from northern Georgia to New England as colder air sweeps in," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
Even though a big amount of snow is not expected to fall on the storm's backside, a coating to up to a few inches of snow, combined with plummeting temperatures is projected to lead to a rapid freezeup and dangerous road conditions from the Appalachians on west. A layer of ice may form beneath the snow on paved and concrete surfaces.
Around Pittsburgh, temperatures are forecast to drop into the upper teens Thursday night and may struggle to rise more than a few degrees on Christmas Day. This will be a dramatic change after temperatures are expected to hover in the 40s much of the time from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon.
As the cold air takes root in the Southern states, a hard freeze is in store. It may turn cold enough to threaten frozen pipes during Thursday night and Friday night. The cold could pose a risk for some frost or freeze damage to tender berry crops in the central part of the Florida Peninsula by Saturday morning, AccuWeather forecasters are warning.
The cold air might just catch up to the back side of the storm for a couple of flurries in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City sometime on Christmas Day, but any flakes in Boston would not fall until sometime Friday night, if at all.
"When combined with the already well below-normal temperatures, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures could plummet well below zero Christmas Eve and Christmas Day all the way from the northern Plains through the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said.
At these temperatures, frostbite can set in on exposed skin in just a few minutes.
Factoring in the wind on the storm's backside and other conditions, it is likely RealFeel® Temperatures will be near zero in the central Appalachians and the teens over the interior South on Christmas Day.
The worst of the cold will settle eastward along the Atlantic coast in the Northeast on Christmas night and Saturday. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures are predicted to be in the teens.
As is usually the case when cold air flows across the Great Lakes, the lake-effect snow machine will be set into motion. This time, though, bands of lake-effect snowfall may not linger for very long at any one given location.
"There will be some lake effect, but the wind direction is likely to shift around due to a couple of trailing disturbances," Sojda said, explaining why the snow bands may not last very long before moving on.
Related:
At this time, the traditional snow belts from northeastern Ohio to northwestern Pennsylvania, western and northern New York state, as well as the western shores of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan should expect anywhere from a few inches of snow to a foot or so from Christmas Eve around the western Great Lakes to Christmas Day and Saturday farther to the east. Still, in a few of the snowiest spots, up to 24 inches of snow can pile up.
The cold blast and lake-effect snow will ease over the weekend, but as Sojda pointed out, there will be other weather systems that follow. AccuWeather meteorologists will be keeping a close eye on the late-week storm and trailing disturbances.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo