Northeast the last stop for treacherous winter storm marching across the US
By
Ryan Adamson, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Feb 24, 2022 10:09 AM EST
|
Updated Feb 25, 2022 9:06 AM EST
The second storm of the week that brought snow and ice from the Southwest to the southern Plains moved into the Northeast on Thursday night and early Friday and produced a combination of heavy snow, wintry mix and rain.
In anticipation of this storm, winter weather advisories and winter storm watches and warnings were in effect for much of the Northeast as of Thursday morning. AccuWeather meteorologists are calling for snow totals as high as 12-18 inches in parts of New England, along with a mix of snow, ice and rain for points to the south along the I-95 corridor.
Earlier this week, rain combined with record warmth in some locations and caused much of the snowpack in the entire region outside of upstate New York and northern New England to melt away. This incoming storm will reestablish snow cover in some locations, AccuWeather forecasters say.
One of the largest metropolitan areas with a close call between all snow and a mix of snow and sleet is Boston. Relatively warmer air will be surging in from the south, but it is likely to advance only as far north as the Boston vicinity. In addition, the preceding conditions may be a factor in snowfall totals as well.
No matter what happens with snowfall totals, the blast of winter weather will be an abrupt turnaround from the springlike conditions people in the Boston area enjoyed this week. On Wednesday, the official high temperature in Boston maxed out at 69 degrees, a record for Feb. 23, which eclipsed the previous record of 67 degrees in 2017, according to the National Weather Service. Typically, Beantown reaches a high temperature of 41 degrees at this time of year.
"Record-breaking warmth on Wednesday, combined with a bit of sleet expected to mix in during the day on Friday, should help keep the snowfall total for downtown Boston around 6-10 inches. However, higher amounts close to a foot will be easier to achieve not far away from the city for some of the northwestern suburbs," noted AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Sadvary.
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The Northeast was largely dry on Thursday, with the wintry potpourri of precipitation arriving from southwest to northeast from late Thursday afternoon into Thursday night. However, a light mixture of rain and sleet spread eastward across northern Maryland and Virginia and along the southern tier of Pennsylvania during Thursday afternoon.
Much of the region from central and southern Pennsylvania through central New Jersey had sleet and freezing rain during Thursday night, with mainly rain to the south of there. Ice was brief around Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., but motorists should be prepared for slippery road conditions especially just north and west of this stretch of the Interstate 95 corridor.
"A pocket of the mid-Atlantic from west-central Pennsylvania, southward through parts of western Maryland, northeastern West Virginia and northern Virginia may have an extended period where sleet and freezing rain occurs into Friday morning," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said, adding that, "should freezing rain be the primary form of precipitation in this zone during that time, any glaze of ice that collects on trees could damage utility lines and lead to significant power outages."
Farther to the north, Sosnowski said, the New York City metro area will be right on the dividing line of wintry weather during the early stage of the storm. "Around New York City, warm air to the south will win the war on Friday with rain for much of the area, after sleet and freezing rain fell on Thursday night," Sosnowski said.
"A gradual transition to rain will then take place into Friday morning. However, roads and sidewalks are likely to still be slippery especially over the northern and western suburbs and in parts of central Long Island, where the wintry mix is likely to linger for a time," Sosnowski said.
In upstate New York, including Albany, and in much of New England, precipitation will arrive in the form of snow. The snow arrived after midnight on Thursday night in most of the region, but some locations will have several inches on the ground by sunrise on Friday, making for a very treacherous Friday morning commute.
Even as surface temperatures remain below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer air can arrive higher up in the atmosphere on Friday, particularly in coastal sections of southern New England. Elsewhere in New England and upstate New York, the entire atmosphere from top to bottom is expected to remain below freezing, and this will keep precipitation in the form of snow.
"The highest snowfall amounts are projected to accumulate close enough to the storm center on Friday where precipitation rates will be the highest, yet just far enough north of the system such that cold air remains in place, keeping the precipitation as snow," said Sadvary.
This is likely to be the case in southern Vermont, southern New Hampshire and northwestern Massachusetts, where 12-18 inches of snow are forecast to fall. In the highest terrain in that region, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 30 inches is expected.
Boston wasn't the only city to experience record-challenging warmth on Wednesday. Five out of six climate sites around the New York City metro area reported record highs on Wednesday. This includes Central Park which hit 68 degrees and JFK International Airport which reached a high of 69 degrees. In New Jersey, Newark International Aiport topped out at 70 F.
Portland, Maine, hit 66 degrees, breaking the old daily record of 61 previously set in 1990, and the mercury in Bangor, Maine, surged to a high of 65 degrees, demolishing the daily record of 57 that had stood since 1984 and setting a new record high temperature for the month of February.
This type of warmth is unlikely to return anytime soon. Saturday will be quiet in the wake of the storm, but snow showers and localized heavier snow squalls could arrive on Sunday afternoon and evening ahead of an Arctic cold front. Bitterly cold air and gusty winds will arrive in the wake of this front on Monday for the last day of February.
AccuWeather forecasters expect temperatures to slowly moderate heading into the first days of March.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Winter Weather
Northeast the last stop for treacherous winter storm marching across the US
By Ryan Adamson, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Feb 24, 2022 10:09 AM EST | Updated Feb 25, 2022 9:06 AM EST
The second storm of the week that brought snow and ice from the Southwest to the southern Plains moved into the Northeast on Thursday night and early Friday and produced a combination of heavy snow, wintry mix and rain.
In anticipation of this storm, winter weather advisories and winter storm watches and warnings were in effect for much of the Northeast as of Thursday morning. AccuWeather meteorologists are calling for snow totals as high as 12-18 inches in parts of New England, along with a mix of snow, ice and rain for points to the south along the I-95 corridor.
Earlier this week, rain combined with record warmth in some locations and caused much of the snowpack in the entire region outside of upstate New York and northern New England to melt away. This incoming storm will reestablish snow cover in some locations, AccuWeather forecasters say.
One of the largest metropolitan areas with a close call between all snow and a mix of snow and sleet is Boston. Relatively warmer air will be surging in from the south, but it is likely to advance only as far north as the Boston vicinity. In addition, the preceding conditions may be a factor in snowfall totals as well.
No matter what happens with snowfall totals, the blast of winter weather will be an abrupt turnaround from the springlike conditions people in the Boston area enjoyed this week. On Wednesday, the official high temperature in Boston maxed out at 69 degrees, a record for Feb. 23, which eclipsed the previous record of 67 degrees in 2017, according to the National Weather Service. Typically, Beantown reaches a high temperature of 41 degrees at this time of year.
"Record-breaking warmth on Wednesday, combined with a bit of sleet expected to mix in during the day on Friday, should help keep the snowfall total for downtown Boston around 6-10 inches. However, higher amounts close to a foot will be easier to achieve not far away from the city for some of the northwestern suburbs," noted AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Sadvary.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
The Northeast was largely dry on Thursday, with the wintry potpourri of precipitation arriving from southwest to northeast from late Thursday afternoon into Thursday night. However, a light mixture of rain and sleet spread eastward across northern Maryland and Virginia and along the southern tier of Pennsylvania during Thursday afternoon.
Much of the region from central and southern Pennsylvania through central New Jersey had sleet and freezing rain during Thursday night, with mainly rain to the south of there. Ice was brief around Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., but motorists should be prepared for slippery road conditions especially just north and west of this stretch of the Interstate 95 corridor.
"A pocket of the mid-Atlantic from west-central Pennsylvania, southward through parts of western Maryland, northeastern West Virginia and northern Virginia may have an extended period where sleet and freezing rain occurs into Friday morning," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said, adding that, "should freezing rain be the primary form of precipitation in this zone during that time, any glaze of ice that collects on trees could damage utility lines and lead to significant power outages."
Farther to the north, Sosnowski said, the New York City metro area will be right on the dividing line of wintry weather during the early stage of the storm. "Around New York City, warm air to the south will win the war on Friday with rain for much of the area, after sleet and freezing rain fell on Thursday night," Sosnowski said.
"A gradual transition to rain will then take place into Friday morning. However, roads and sidewalks are likely to still be slippery especially over the northern and western suburbs and in parts of central Long Island, where the wintry mix is likely to linger for a time," Sosnowski said.
In upstate New York, including Albany, and in much of New England, precipitation will arrive in the form of snow. The snow arrived after midnight on Thursday night in most of the region, but some locations will have several inches on the ground by sunrise on Friday, making for a very treacherous Friday morning commute.
Even as surface temperatures remain below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer air can arrive higher up in the atmosphere on Friday, particularly in coastal sections of southern New England. Elsewhere in New England and upstate New York, the entire atmosphere from top to bottom is expected to remain below freezing, and this will keep precipitation in the form of snow.
"The highest snowfall amounts are projected to accumulate close enough to the storm center on Friday where precipitation rates will be the highest, yet just far enough north of the system such that cold air remains in place, keeping the precipitation as snow," said Sadvary.
This is likely to be the case in southern Vermont, southern New Hampshire and northwestern Massachusetts, where 12-18 inches of snow are forecast to fall. In the highest terrain in that region, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 30 inches is expected.
Boston wasn't the only city to experience record-challenging warmth on Wednesday. Five out of six climate sites around the New York City metro area reported record highs on Wednesday. This includes Central Park which hit 68 degrees and JFK International Airport which reached a high of 69 degrees. In New Jersey, Newark International Aiport topped out at 70 F.
Portland, Maine, hit 66 degrees, breaking the old daily record of 61 previously set in 1990, and the mercury in Bangor, Maine, surged to a high of 65 degrees, demolishing the daily record of 57 that had stood since 1984 and setting a new record high temperature for the month of February.
This type of warmth is unlikely to return anytime soon. Saturday will be quiet in the wake of the storm, but snow showers and localized heavier snow squalls could arrive on Sunday afternoon and evening ahead of an Arctic cold front. Bitterly cold air and gusty winds will arrive in the wake of this front on Monday for the last day of February.
AccuWeather forecasters expect temperatures to slowly moderate heading into the first days of March.
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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