The Daily Blog

Feb 8

Back-to-Back Storms, More Subzero Cold This Week.

Back-to-back storm systems and widespread cold will bring more harsh winter weather to the eastern two-thirds of the nation this week.

One storm will spread snow and rain along a path from the Tennessee Valley to the Northeast from today through Tuesday, while the next storm will bring significant snowfall to the central and southern Plains from late tonight into Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a new blast of arctic air will spread southward and eastward, with subzero low temperatures extending over a large area from the Plains to the Northeast on Tuesday night.The first storm will be too disorganized to produce the type of intense snowfall that has been common so far this winter, but snow — or rain changing to snow — will occur from Arkansas to New England. Some travel delays may occur, especially from Arkansas to western and northern Kentucky, where communities do not have as much snow removal equipment, and in interior New England, where snow will accumulate up to several inches.Sharply cold air will follow the passage of the storm, setting the stage for widespread bitter cold by Tuesday night and the likelihood of a significant accumulation of snow fairly far south into the Plains by Wednesday, including the Dallas region.

Winter storm watches are in effect in northern Texas and much of Oklahoma. Up to 10 inches of snow is expected in Oklahoma, where strong winds will create drifts of 2 to 3 feet. Wind chill temperatures are expected to approach minus 30 in western Kansas from later Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Accumulating snow is likely to occur as far south as north-central Texas by Wednesday, marking the third accumulating snowfall in this region in the past two weeks.Accumulating snow will likely spread eastward into Arkansas and northern Louisiana during the day Wednesday, and light snow or flurries are possible from northern Mississippi to the Carolinas Wednesday night as the storm weakens.

The cold air currently across the northern Plains and northern Rockies — high temperatures today will remain below zero in parts of Montana and North Dakota — will become more widespread across the Plains, upper Midwest and Northeast during the next couple of days.Low temperatures on Tuesday night will be below zero from western Kansas to northern Illinois, including Chicago, and many locations in Nebraska and Iowa will have low temperatures of at least minus 10. In the Northeast, temperatures will approach minus 15 in the coldest locations in interior New England and upstate New York, with temperatures in the teens in New York City.

The colder than normal weather will continue from the Plains to the East through at least Thursday, with a significant warming trend across the Plains by late in the week. Warmer air will begin to move into the Northeast late in the weekend or early next week.

Feb 1

Say It Ain’t Snow: Midwest, East to Get Socked Again.

A complex and intense winter storm will result in dangerous weather across a large portion of the country, from the Plains to the Eastern Seaboard, during the next couple of days, snarling road and air traffic, closing schools and causing power outages.

The dangerous weather will range from blizzard conditions in the Midwest, including Chicago, to a wintry mix in the cities along the Eastern Seaboard and dangerous thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast.

An initial band of snow, mixed with freezing rain, will race eastward through the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic region today and tonight, resulting in moderate accumulations of snow and some travel-related delays.The most intense snow and wind will occur from late tonight into Wednesday as the main part of the storm system gains strength and moves from the southern Plains into the upper Midwest. Snowfall will be more than 16 inches in some locations on the northern and western sides of the storm, where the combination of snow and wind will result in a full-fledged blizzard, with temperatures falling through the 20s.

The major cities in this corridor include Kansas City, Mo., Chicago and Detroit.Close to the track of the storm, a battle between the cold air to the north and unseasonably mild air to the south of the storm will result in a dangerous mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain. A significant buildup of ice — locally more than .50 inches — will result in dangerous travel and the potential for downed trees and power lines.

This icy corridor will extend from the south-central Plains through the Ohio Valley into the mid-Atlantic and parts of the Northeast. The major cities along the Eastern Seaboard will be in the region where a mixture of precipitation will fall.

Washington, D.C., will have the least amount of icy precipitation, with an extended period of rain as temperatures race to near 50 degrees on Wednesday.

The precipitation will likely change over to plain rain for a time even in New York City, which established a monthly record for January snowfall with last week’s storm. The National Weather Service is expecting 2 to 5 inches of snow and perhaps a half-inch of ice before the changeover to ice and rain, however. Boston, being farthest north, is the most likely to have a mainly snow and ice event.From the Deep South to the Carolinas, the air will be much too warm for any frozen precipitation, but the storm will still pack a punch. Gusty thunderstorms — capable of producing flooding downpours, hail and damaging winds — will occur. Isolated tornadoes are even a threat, especially along the Gulf Coast on Tuesday through Tuesday night.

Bitterly cold air will accompany the storm in parts of the Plains and Midwest — daytime temperatures will be below zero as far south as western Nebraska on Tuesday afternoon, and temperatures will fall to below zero in Chicago by Wednesday night.

Subzero temperatures are possible in parts of the Northeast by Thursday night.

Jan 31

Massive Winter Storm to Sweep Much of Nation This Week.

In a winter that’s becoming known for its powerful storms, the one that’s about to form might be the most impressive of all in terms of the size and scope — affecting much of the eastern two-thirds of the country during the first half of the week.

Heavy snow, ice, rain, thunderstorms and bitter cold will occur along the storm’s path, with the likelihood of widespread travel interruptions, power outages and property damage.

The storm has yet to become organized, but the ingredients will be in place for rapid formation once the low pressure system begins to emerge from the Rockies on Monday. The huge temperature difference between the northern Plains and Gulf Coast will be fuel for the storm as two systems merge in the middle of the country.By early Tuesday, precipitation will likely extend from the eastern Rockies to the northern mid-Atlantic coast, with the most intense portion of the storm developing in the southern Plains. This low-pressure system will track from the Missouri Valley on Tuesday evening to off the New England coast by Wednesday evening.

More than a foot will fall on the northern and western sides of the storm, from the Plains and Missouri Valley through the Midwest and into northern New England. A corridor of accumulating ice will occur near the track of the storm, from the Missouri Valley through the Ohio Valley and into parts of the mid-Atlantic region.

As of Sunday morning, winter storm watches extended from Oklahoma to southern Michigan, including the cities of Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit.The precise track of the storm will determine the type of the precipitation for the major cities along the Eastern Seaboard, which have been pounded with several storms already this season. The National Weather Service is currently expecting a mixture of snow, ice and rain in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., with a mixture of snow and ice in Boston.

Bands of rain and thunderstorms will occur south of the storm; the thunderstorms have the potential to reach severe levels, perhaps producing isolated tornadoes along the Gulf Coast on Tuesday and Tuesday night. The strong thunderstorms should remain to the north of central Florida, which was hit with damaging thunderstorms last week.

Winter weather advisories, warnings and wind chill warnings are currently in effect from Montana to Iowa and Minnesota for the northern part of the storm.

The very cold air in the northern Rockies and northern Plains — temperatures will approach minus 30 in northern Montana on Monday night — will move into the western part of the storm on Tuesday. Temperatures will be in single digits in the western Plains on Tuesday.

Temperatures will drop into the lower 20s even in Dallas by Tuesday night, with highs barely above freezing on Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures late last week were in the middle 70s.

The bitterly cold air will not push as far south in the eastern part of the country, but by the second half of the week, sub-zero low temperatures are possible in parts of the Northeast.

Jan 18

Messy Storm to Spread Snow, Ice and Rain Across East.

A mixture of snow, ice and rain from a complex storm system will interrupt travel and potentially cause power outages in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast from tonight into Wednesday.

The core of the storm will be much milder than the powerhouse snowstorm that hit much of the region last week, but with cold air in place, precipitation will begin as freezing rain or snow from Washington to Boston before changing to rain.

The snow and ice accumulation will be fairly light in Washington, but a few hours of icy roads and travel delays are possible early tonight.The mixture of snow, freezing rain and sleet will arrive later — and last longer — in Philadelphia and New York, with the potential for frozen precipitation to linger into Tuesday’s morning commute before changing to rain. The frozen precipitation will last well into Tuesday in Boston.

The snow, rain and ice are expected to exit northern New England on Wednesday.

The hardest-hit areas will be farther inland, where the cold air will be much slower to give way to the relatively mild air from the south. Snow accumulations will not be extreme, especially compared with recent Eastern snowstorms, but 6 inches of snow will accumulate in parts of upstate New York and northern New England.

A lighter accumulation of snow — generally 3 inches or less — will be followed by a light to moderate accumulation of freezing rain and sleet from northeastern Pennsylvania to western Massachusetts. Not only will travel be difficult, but the accumulation of freezing rain on power lines and trees raises the prospects of power outages.

The overall weather pattern that will create the complex storm this week is similar to the one that produced the intense Northeast snowstorm last week. One storm will ride northward along the Atlantic Coast while a second crosses the Midwest into the East. This time, though, the storms will not mergeThe western part of the storm system — also not as intense as last week’s — will produce some snow and mixed precipitation. Light snow, generally under 3 inches, will occur from the northern Plains to the upper Midwest, including Minneapolis and Chicago, from today into tonight. A light mixture of precipitation will move through the Ohio Valley tonight into Tuesday.

Generally, light rain will occur as far south as Tennessee and parts of the Deep South, regions slow to recover from the recent major winter storm.

Another shot of colder than normal air will follow the storm system into the Midwest and Northeast by the middle part of the week. High temperatures will most likely be no higher than the teens in interior parts of the Northeast by Thursday. in time to produce as strong of a storm along the Eastern Seaboard.