Storm train could bring sneaky snow to parts of eastern, central US
Several storms will bring rain and possibly snow to the central and eastern United States beginning this weekend.
AccuWeather’s Long Range Expert Joe Lundberg looks ahead to next week, which could bring a midweek storm that produces rain and snow in much of the eastern U.S.
A short series of storms from Sunday to Thursday will bring drenching rain to many areas in the southern and eastern United States. Just enough cold air may sneak in to bring some snow to parts of the Midwest and Appalachians, AccuWeather meteorologists say. At the very least, there will be episodes of rain, drizzle and fog.
The first storm in a trio may bring a bit of ice or a wintry mix encompassing rain, snow and ice on the front end to northern New England from Sunday to Monday and rain to most areas in the East.
A trailing storm (the second in the trio) is likely to remain relatively weak and will likely travel to the north-northeast along the Appalachians from Monday night to Tuesday night. Because that storm will remain weak, it will bring rain to most areas once again, from the central Gulf coast to parts of the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, Appalachians and Atlantic coast.
"If this middle storm in the series were to be stronger, it would be able to pull cold air to the Atlantic coast, in which case the third storm that follows in the trio could bring snow all the way to near the Interstate 95 corridor." AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok cautioned. "However, that is unlikely to happen that far to the east."
The beginnings of that third storm will take shape in the Northwest late this week. This Pacific storm will then slide southeastward across the interior West this weekend to early next week. As it does, it will produce snow over some of the mountain ranges, including the Rockies and the Wasatch Range.
The storm could bring a bit of snow to Denver from Sunday night to Monday. It is possible the morning rush hours could be riddled with delays in the metro area.
The energy from the storm in the West will trigger the third storm for the East from Wednesday to Thursday.
Because this will be the caboose in the series of storms that swing up from the South Central states, it could be the strongest of the bunch.
As Pastelok pointed out, it will be too warm for snow along the Atlantic Seaboard, and conditions get a bit more tricky from the Appalachians to parts of the Tennessee Valley, the Ohio Valley and the eastern Great Lakes regions.
Just enough cold air could seep into the Appalachians to areas a bit farther west over the Midwest to bring some snow to these areas, depending on the storm track and strength.
A weak storm may fail to throw much precipitation into the cold air, in which case mostly rain will fall. Should the storm get fairly strong, it could force an accumulating band of snow mainly over portions of the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys as well as the central Great Lakes.
Regardless of the possibility of snow from the Appalachians and farther west with the third storm next week, rounds of soaking rain are in store for many South Central states and much of the Atlantic Seaboard to the Appalachians. A general 2-4 inches of rain will likely fall along the central Gulf coast with 1-2 inches of rain likely for the Southeast. Part of the mid-Atlantic and New England may pick up an inch of rain from the pattern.
This will help to ease drought conditions that reached a peak in late November and have slowly been easing back.
Because of the long-term abnormally dry to drought conditions, most streams and rivers will handle the upcoming rainstorms with few problems. However, the rounds of downpours may be heavy enough to bring urban flooding, especially where storm drains are clogged with leaves, snow or other debris.
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