Storm with snow, rain eyeing eastern US this weekend
Snow shovels may once again be needed in the Northeast, Ohio Valley and Appalachians as a winter storm tracks over the eastern U.S. ahead of the next blast of Arctic air.
Snow fell over Asheville and other towns in North Carolina that still have damage from Helene.
Part of the same setup that is leading to another high wind event in Southern California into midweek will help trigger a storm in the eastern United States this weekend to early next week. AccuWeather meteorologists say the extent of the storm's snow, rain and mixed precipitation will depend on its track.
"How quickly the storm strengthens will help to determine its track," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. "And consequently, where it tracks will determine where the band of accumulating snow versus rain sets up."
"A weaker storm is more likely to take a more southern track and will have less cold air to work with. In that case, a minimal amount of snow is likely, but some snow could reach more into the interior Southeast as a result," Rayno explained. "A stronger storm is more likely to track farther to the north, pull more moisture into the cold air and result in significant snow somewhere from the Midwest to the interior Northeast."
Rain is likely to affect areas from the upper Texas coast through the Carolinas, much of Virginia and the coastal mid-Atlantic region. Some of the rain that falls in the Southeast can be accompanied by thunder and lightning and be heavy enough to lead to localized urban flooding.
Snow or a wintry mix is the favored form of precipitation from Oklahoma and eastern Kansas to Maine.
In the area from the southern Appalachians to the northern and western suburbs of the Interstate-95 mid-Atlantic cities, the primary form of precipitation could be rain or a wintry mix.
A much weaker storm may produce only spotty light snow or flurries over much of the Midwest and the Northeast. In this case, there can still be a wintry mix in portions of the southern Appalachians, Carolinas, and Virginia Piedmont areas, as well as part of the mid-Atlantic coast. That wintry mix may include areas still recovering from Hurricane Helene.
The coldest air of the season so far will race southward across the Great Plains from later this weekend to early next week. The cold plunge will bring accumulating snow along the Rockies from Montana to New Mexico, including the Denver area.
Some of that cold air will rush eastward in the storm's wake and into the Southeast, Midwest and Northeast regions next week.
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