Travel-disrupting snow spreading across Northeast on Monday
By
Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Feb 22, 2021 3:05 PM EST
February has brought a wild ride of wintry weather for most major cities all across the country, and yet another storm is bringing more snow to some to start the week.
Ice and snow from Texas and Mississippi to New York and Maine has led to millions without power and delays to COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Some locations are forecast to get a break from the wintry weather, but the northern tier of the United States will not be as lucky.
A storm began to take shape over Iowa late Saturday night and Sunday morning, bringing snow to parts of Nebraska, Iowa and northern Missouri. In just a few hours, snow piled up quickly in Omaha on Sunday morning, accumulating up to 5 inches before 10 a.m. CST. The city ended up topping out at 7.6 inches for the day.
As Sunday progressed, the snow began to spread into Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Michigan. The bulk of the snowfall shifted to the Great Lakes Sunday evening and continued to push eastward overnight.
In its wake, the storm left a lengthy swath of 6 inch or greater snow totals from far eastern Nebraska to extreme southeastern Minnesota. Although Lincoln, Nebraska, remained out of the heaviest band of snow, the city did pick up 1.8 inches on Sunday and is now just 6.2 inches shy of its snowiest season on record.
Major cities like Minneapolis, Minnesota; Des Moines, Iowa; and Chicago were spared the brunt of the worst snow, as all three cities received under 3 inches of snow.
On Monday, the storm will continue its eastward jaunt from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic and New England.
"This storm will move relatively fast, helping to keep snow accumulations down when compared to some of the recent storms that crossed the country," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty.
The quick-moving nature of the storm is likely to keep most areas in the East from having more than 6 inches of snow, including cities like Pittsburgh and Allentown, Pennsylvania, as well as Syracuse, New York.
However, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 15 inches is possible in lake-enhancement areas or along mountainous terrain.
This radar image captured at mid-afternoon on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, shows snow (blue) and rain (green, yellow and red) advancing eastward. Mostly rain was falling along Interstate 95 from Massachusetts to the Carolinas. (AccuWeather)
Even with just a couple inches of snow, slow-moving travel is possible on secondary roads and even some major interstates, such as parts of I-80 and I-90.
There were multiple accidents reported around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during Monday morning, according to the Pennsylvania State Police.
Motorists, driving day or night, should exercise caution out on the roads. Snow can quickly cause slippery conditions and even reduced visibility, which could cause dangerous travel.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"In parts of Pennsylvania and New York, it may only snow for a brief time, just a few-hour window," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller.
"However, despite snowing for just a brief time, it could be very heavy," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda.
Motorists should be prepared for a burst of heavy snow that advances eastward from eastern New York state, northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey to New England into the evening hours.
Brief heavy rain, gusty winds in store
The rain portion of this vigorous storm can be disruptive as well.
"Rain can be quite heavy for a couple of hours and has the potential to lead to urban flooding and travel delays," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
The heaviest rain will hit the mid-Atlantic region from southeastern New York state to North Carolina during the afternoon and then sweep across southern New England during the early evening.
"Motorists and pedestrians should treat this rain event like a springtime squall line, but without thunder in most cases as the rain can be that intense and winds rather gusty," Sosnowski said.
What follows the storm?
Another way this storm is different than the last few is in regards to the temperatures expected following the storm.
"Instead of another shot of cold air in the wake of this storm, a surge of warmer air will spread from the center of the country on north and east, bringing milder conditions through midweek," added Douty.
This warmer air could allow for temperatures in the central Plains to jump up as much as 40 degrees Fahrenheit in just one week's time. In the East, some places could rise 20 degrees by Wednesday.
The milder air also means that locations across the South that were hit with multiple waves of wintry weather so far in February will be spared this time around.
Rain is anticipated in parts of Virginia and North Carolina, which were hit hard with at least three rounds of ice in just about one week's time. The drastic warmup plus additional rain could bring some localized flooding issues.
Following this storm and the warmup, there is still a chance for areas to have a brief wave of rain or snow. However, compared to earlier in the month, the eastern half of the country is likely to be less stormy for the end of February.
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
Travel-disrupting snow spreading across Northeast on Monday
By Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Feb 22, 2021 3:05 PM EST
February has brought a wild ride of wintry weather for most major cities all across the country, and yet another storm is bringing more snow to some to start the week.
Ice and snow from Texas and Mississippi to New York and Maine has led to millions without power and delays to COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Some locations are forecast to get a break from the wintry weather, but the northern tier of the United States will not be as lucky.
A storm began to take shape over Iowa late Saturday night and Sunday morning, bringing snow to parts of Nebraska, Iowa and northern Missouri. In just a few hours, snow piled up quickly in Omaha on Sunday morning, accumulating up to 5 inches before 10 a.m. CST. The city ended up topping out at 7.6 inches for the day.
As Sunday progressed, the snow began to spread into Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Michigan. The bulk of the snowfall shifted to the Great Lakes Sunday evening and continued to push eastward overnight.
In its wake, the storm left a lengthy swath of 6 inch or greater snow totals from far eastern Nebraska to extreme southeastern Minnesota. Although Lincoln, Nebraska, remained out of the heaviest band of snow, the city did pick up 1.8 inches on Sunday and is now just 6.2 inches shy of its snowiest season on record.
Major cities like Minneapolis, Minnesota; Des Moines, Iowa; and Chicago were spared the brunt of the worst snow, as all three cities received under 3 inches of snow.
On Monday, the storm will continue its eastward jaunt from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic and New England.
"This storm will move relatively fast, helping to keep snow accumulations down when compared to some of the recent storms that crossed the country," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty.
The quick-moving nature of the storm is likely to keep most areas in the East from having more than 6 inches of snow, including cities like Pittsburgh and Allentown, Pennsylvania, as well as Syracuse, New York.
However, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 15 inches is possible in lake-enhancement areas or along mountainous terrain.
This radar image captured at mid-afternoon on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, shows snow (blue) and rain (green, yellow and red) advancing eastward. Mostly rain was falling along Interstate 95 from Massachusetts to the Carolinas. (AccuWeather)
Even with just a couple inches of snow, slow-moving travel is possible on secondary roads and even some major interstates, such as parts of I-80 and I-90.
There were multiple accidents reported around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during Monday morning, according to the Pennsylvania State Police.
Motorists, driving day or night, should exercise caution out on the roads. Snow can quickly cause slippery conditions and even reduced visibility, which could cause dangerous travel.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"In parts of Pennsylvania and New York, it may only snow for a brief time, just a few-hour window," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller.
"However, despite snowing for just a brief time, it could be very heavy," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda.
Motorists should be prepared for a burst of heavy snow that advances eastward from eastern New York state, northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey to New England into the evening hours.
Brief heavy rain, gusty winds in store
The rain portion of this vigorous storm can be disruptive as well.
"Rain can be quite heavy for a couple of hours and has the potential to lead to urban flooding and travel delays," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
The heaviest rain will hit the mid-Atlantic region from southeastern New York state to North Carolina during the afternoon and then sweep across southern New England during the early evening.
"Motorists and pedestrians should treat this rain event like a springtime squall line, but without thunder in most cases as the rain can be that intense and winds rather gusty," Sosnowski said.
What follows the storm?
Another way this storm is different than the last few is in regards to the temperatures expected following the storm.
Related:
"Instead of another shot of cold air in the wake of this storm, a surge of warmer air will spread from the center of the country on north and east, bringing milder conditions through midweek," added Douty.
This warmer air could allow for temperatures in the central Plains to jump up as much as 40 degrees Fahrenheit in just one week's time. In the East, some places could rise 20 degrees by Wednesday.
The milder air also means that locations across the South that were hit with multiple waves of wintry weather so far in February will be spared this time around.
Rain is anticipated in parts of Virginia and North Carolina, which were hit hard with at least three rounds of ice in just about one week's time. The drastic warmup plus additional rain could bring some localized flooding issues.
Following this storm and the warmup, there is still a chance for areas to have a brief wave of rain or snow. However, compared to earlier in the month, the eastern half of the country is likely to be less stormy for the end of February.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo