The Daily Blog

April Could Shower Some of US With More Snow.

Late-season snow has been fairly common from the western mountains to parts of the East Coast this year, and a persistent weather pattern of cooler-than-average temperatures and an active storm track means that more of the same is likely in the coming weeks.

In other words, it might be April snow — not showers — that brings May flowers for some of us.

A couple of late-season snow producers will be on the weather map this week alone, with the greatest threat being in interior parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast from Thursday night through Friday. A storm moving northward through this region has the potential to produce heavy, wet snow from West Virginia northward into parts of New York state and interior New England.This storm will follow on the heels of a storm that will track from western Kansas today to offshore of the mid-Atlantic region Wednesday night. It will be chilly enough for a little snow along the northern fringe of the storm; however, snow amounts will not be as impressive as they were with a weekend storm that took a similar track.

To the south of this initial storm, dangerous thunderstorms will once again be a danger today and tonight, with thunderstorms capable of producing large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes in eastern Texas, Louisiana and southern Mississippi.Regardless of the amount of snow that these next two storms produce, the overall weather pattern will remain favorable for late-season snow through at least the first week of April.

The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting cooler-than-average temperatures across the entire northern tier of the country into at least the second week of April, with the likelihood of more precipitation than normal in the Pacific Northwest and northern Plains, as well as from the Ohio Valley to the Northeast, including the mid-Atlantic region.

April and even May snowfall is far from unprecedented across the northern tier of the country, including the mid-Atlantic region and Northeast.

In Pittsburgh, the latest accumulating snow (3.1 inches) occurred on May 3, 1966. In Albany, N.Y, a trace of snow has occurred as late as May 28 (1902), and the April snowfall record is 17.3 inches, on April 6, 1982.

The overall weather pattern of chilly storms tracking across the northern half of the country is fairly typical of a spring with an on-going La Nina. The La Nina is a cooling of the water in the equatorial Pacific, which, in turn, influences global weather patterns. Across the United States, one the primary effects is a more active than normal northern storm track, which often persists into spring.

The current La Nina has begun to weaken in recent weeks, and government experts expect it to dissipate by June.

More Snow, Flooding, Dangerous Thunderstorms This Weekend.

If the months were assigned personalities, then March would most likely be labeled emotional and moody. It’s capable of prolonged periods of warmth and tranquility, but a fit of weather rage is just as likely.

A storm moving from the Rockies today to the mid-Atlantic region on Sunday will be fairly representative of a multifaceted spring storm, producing weather ranging from accumulating snow to dangerous thunderstorms to flooding.

New snow accumulations will locally exceed a foot in the mountains of Utah and Colorado today, where, combined with winds in excess of 25 mph, travel will be hampered. Meanwhile, the extremely heavy snow in the California Sierra will begin to wind down, but not before storm totals reach 2 to 4 feet.

Snow will spread into Plains tonight and Saturday, where late-March snow is not as common as in the mountains. And the snow will then likely streak eastward into the eastern Plains and northern Missouri Valley on Saturday, an area with average high temperatures in the lower 50s. Accumulations will not be impressive by winter standards, but a few inches of snow will accumulate on unpaved surfaces.By Saturday night and Sunday, accumulating snow is a possibility as far east as parts of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania, with a chilly rain or perhaps wet snow in the lower elevations, including the cities of Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Thunderstorms are often a greater danger to lives and property with spring storm systems than the snow, and strong thunderstorms are a threat in the Plains and the South today and Saturday.The region most likely to experience hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes today is eastern Oklahoma, northeastern Texas, Arkansas and northern Louisiana. The greatest risk for intense thunderstorms will shift eastward to Tennessee, northern Mississippi, northern Alabama and northern Georgia on Saturday.

The rain associated with the storm will generally not be extreme, but it will add to existing flooding problems in parts of the Plains, the mid-Atlantic region and the Deep South, where recent rain and melting snow farther upstream has resulted in rising rivers.

Much of the region with the most widespread, ongoing river flooding — eastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and much of Iowa — will miss the heaviest precipitation. And the precipitation that falls will be mainly in the form of snow, which will not immediately flow into the rivers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Another Northeast Blizzard on the Way?

The storm that’s paralyzing parts of the Deep South will merge with another one moving through the Plains and Midwest today to produce an intense storm off the Northeast coast by Tuesday night and Wednesday.

The combination of snow and wind could result in blizzard or near-blizzard conditions from northern New Jersey to eastern New England, including New York City and Boston, disrupting air and road travel and closing schools. This is the same area that was pounded by the post-Christmas blizzard.

National Weather Service winter storm watches for this region warn of the potential for six to 12 inches of snow, with locally higher amounts.

A blizzard is a storm with a sustained wind (or frequent gusts) of 35 mph and visibility lowered to less than one-quarter of a mile in snow or blowing snow for a minimum of three hours. In other words, it is a reflection of the intensity of the storm, not the amount of snow that accumulates.The storm is expected to move through the Northeast too quickly for the kind of widespread 20-inch-plus snow amounts that piled up with the late-December storm. However, winds of greater than 35 mph will occur during the height of the storm in some areas, resulting in extremely limited visibility, dangerous travel conditions and severe blowing and drifting of snow.The worst of the storm will again bypass Washington and Baltimore, where lower amounts of snow — generally 2 to 4 inches — are predicted for Tuesday afternoon and night. These were among the cities that had record-breaking snowfall from the powerful storms that occurred last winter.

How bad conditions get in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey will depend on how quickly the storm strengthens Tuesday. The sooner the storm ramps up, the more intense it will be; however, it will not intensify quickly enough to result in snow accumulations approaching those of late December.

National Weather Service watches for this part of the northern mid-Atlantic region warn of the possibility of snow in excess of 4 inches, with visibilities lowering to less than one-half mile.

Before the system in the Atlantic comes together, the storms in the South and the Midwest will produce their share of weather problems.

Snow, freezing rain and sleet will result in dangerous travel and possible power interruptions across the Carolinas, Georgia and eastern Tennessee today, and travel conditions will remain dangerous in central Tennessee and Alabama even though the bulk of the precipitation there has ended. Cleanup operations will continue in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Numerous weather watches and warnings remain in effect across the Deep South.The storm moving from the Plains through the Midwest today and Tuesday will leave a swath of accumulating snow in its path. The heaviest snow — approaching a foot — has already fallen in western and central Nebraska, and several inches of snow will extend through the Midwest and Ohio Valley through Tuesday.

Winter storm watches from the Midwestern storm are in effect as far east as western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.

It’s not uncommon for the energy from two storms to merge and rapidly intensify offshore as they move up the Atlantic Coast. The storms are typically called nor’easters because the counterclockwise flow around the storms results in strong northeast winds.

Holiday Travelers Struggle With Midwest Snow; South May Get Hit.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Christmas Eve snow storm that blanketed parts of the Midwest is heading southeast, expected to bring rare Christmas Day snowfall to Kentucky, Tennessee and even Georgia.

After dumping 9 inches of snow in Iowa by Friday morning, the storm was likely to dip south into Tennessee and Georgia on Saturday, then perhaps move north Sunday. Winter weather advisories were in effect from Kansas east to Kentucky and from Minnesota south to Arkansas on Friday.

The National Weather Service said that for the first Christmas in 17 years, Nashville and Atlanta could get more than just a dusting of snow. In Georgia, the National Weather Service said 1 to 3 inches of snow could fall across metro Atlanta on Saturday.

But it said there was still uncertainty about the storm’s path, and any deviation could affect the total amounts. If the forecast holds, it would be the first time since 1993 that snow fell on Christmas in Atlanta, the weather service said. The last time there was measurable snowfall on Christmas Day was in 1882, when one-third of an inch of snow blanketed the city.

The snow made traveling tough in northeastern Iowa, where the bulk of the storm hovered. Many people traveled Thursday in hope of beating the foul weather.

Scott and Lori Whiting left Chicago for Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday evening with their nine children. By Friday morning, they had only made it to Des Moines, a trip that normally takes about four hours, Lori Whiting said.

“The cars are really sliding around up there,” Lori Whiting said. “It’s kind of slushy. Some parts it’s packed, and you don’t think it’s going to be slick and all of a sudden your car is fishtailing.”

There were few snow plows on the road, she said, but Scott Whiting got into a fender bender with one in the parking lot of a Des Moines truck stop. He was driving a car, while his wife and children traveled in a van. Still, the family was in good spirits and the children were singing carols.

Lori Whiting said they hoped to make it to Colorado Springs in time to celebrate Christmas Eve.

“Depending on the number of potty breaks, you understand,” she said.

Many people traveled Thursday in hope of beating the foul weather.

Eric and Tatiana Chodkowski, of Boston, drove with their children, ages 2 and 4, to see relatives in New York. They said forecasts for snow on Sunday made them wonder whether they’d make it back then, as planned. They deemed the roads congested but manageable Thursday, and most people found the nation’s airports to be the same way.

Planes took off into windy but accommodating skies at New York’s LaGuardia Airport as Steve Kent prepared to fly to Denver for a family ski trip, scoffing at the puny lines.

“I don’t find it that difficult,” he said. “I think Thanksgiving is harder.”

Long security lines were feared over Thanksgiving, when practically everyone was on the move the same day, but with the year-end holidays spread out, such problems hadn’t developed by Friday and weren’t expected to over the weekend.

Travelers could see airport screeners taking a closer look at empty insulated beverage containers like thermoses because air carriers were alerted about a potential terror tactic involving them, an administration official said.

The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, stressed that there is no intelligence about an active terror plot. The Homeland Security Department regularly alerts law enforcement about evolving terror tactics.

The Air Transport Association expects 44.3 million people on U.S. flights between Dec. 16 and Jan. 5 - up 3 percent over the same period a year ago but still below pre-recession travel volume. The average ticket price was $421, up by 5 percent.The Vino Volo Wine Room at Detroit Metropolitan Airport was benefiting from more travelers, manager Mark Del Duco said Thursday.

“The Christmas mood is more there this year than last,” he said, estimating that sales were up 10 percent this season compared with last year.

The AAA predicted overall travel to rise about 3 percent this year, with more than 92 million people planning to go more than 50 miles sometime between now and Jan. 2. More than 90 percent said they would be driving.

Maria Romero, a cashier at the Chevron Food Mart just off Interstate 15 in Barstow, Calif., said she has seen an increase in travelers there, especially families and people from out of state.

“It’s wonderful. We need it,” she said. “The busier, the better.”

Metrodome Collapses as Blizzard Continues to Pound Midwest.

MINNEAPOLIS (Dec. 12) — A storm that spanned parts of eight states continued to dump heavy snow in the upper Midwest on Sunday, collapsing the Metrodome in Minneapolis and forcing numerous road closures.

The storm was moving eastward a day after it dumped 20 inches of snow in some places. A Sunday NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings had already been pushed to Monday because the Giants couldn’t get to Minneapolis to play when the inflatable Metrodome collapsed Sunday. It’s uncertain when that game will now be played.A blizzard warning was in effect Sunday for Chicago and much of northern Illinois, all of Iowa, large sections of southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and smaller areas in North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Michigan, according to the National Weather Service. Most of the rest of the region was under a winter storm warning or a hard freeze watch.Wisconsin authorities issued a statewide no-travel advisory Saturday, citing blizzard and winter storm warnings in nearly every county.

The weather was an unexpected burden for one Minnesota man who had pledged to camp out on the roof of a coffee shop to help his daughter’s school raise money.

Hospital executive Robert Stevens donned four layers of long underwear, heavy boots and a down coat before embarking on his quest Friday night. He vowed not to come down until he had raised $100,000, but after reaching the halfway mark Saturday morning, he said he hoped the rest of the money would come fast. He didn’t look forward to spending another night out in the blizzard.

“I think I’ve crossed the line into insanity,” he said.

Stevens slept inside a tent surrounded by hay bales, swaddled in a double-insulated sleeping bag as he listened to the winds whip off Lake Minnetonka a block away.

There was a bustling lunch crowd Saturday in the Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis. Collette Dennis, a baker there, was back inside after she and co-workers spent 20 futile minutes trying to free her parked car from a snowdrift. Dennis still hoped to figure out a way to get home to the suburb of Roseville, about 12 miles away - but she also was prepared to stay put.

The cafe had no cots, Dennis said, “but we have multiple bags of flour I could sleep on. And I guess at least I won’t go hungry.”

The sinking temperatures were considered even more treacherous than the snow in some places. North Dakota experienced wind chills of 20 degrees below zero Saturday, and the arctic air was expected to drop temperatures below zero by Sunday night throughout the Dakotas and in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Eastern Minnesota’s Oakdale area got 20 inches of snow Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was moving eastward, where it dumped about a foot of snow in Chippewa County in northwestern Wisconsin and was expected to drop 20 to 24 inches by Sunday morning in the Eau Claire area.

Lisa McGrath was shoveling her front walk in southeast Minneapolis, but knew she’d likely have to do it again in a few hours.

“It’s good exercise - the only exercise I’m going to get today,” McGrath said as she hoisted the shovel.The State Patrol said there were 76 crashes reported statewide, but none with fatalities or serious injuries, and 319 reports of vehicles sliding off roads.

“The areas that were hardest hit are virtually impassable,” said Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske. “So we don’t expect those numbers to go up a whole lot.”

The weather also postponed to Monday an NFL football game that had been set for Sunday between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. The Giants were stuck Saturday night in Kansas City, Mo., after their flight was diverted there with the Twin Cities airport closed because of the snowstorm.

Wide-Ranging Winter Storm to Be Full-Fledged Blizzard for Some.

(Dec. 10) — A quickly strengthening storm system will hammer the northern Plains and upper Midwest with snow and wind from tonight into the weekend, resulting in a full-fledged blizzard for some. The powerhouse storm will then bring a wintry blast to the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region from Sunday into Monday.

The storm will precede a new shot of Arctic air that will encompass much of the eastern part of the nation next week.As of late this afternoon, blizzard watches and warnings were in effect for extreme eastern North Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northern and eastern parts of Iowa. The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as “sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or greater, considerable falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility frequently to 1/4 mile or less for a period of three hours or more.”
Across this region, sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph will accompany heavy snow and falling temperatures. Snowfall amounts will generally range from 6 to 12 inches, with local amounts of 16 inches. Near whiteout conditions are likely, resulting in very dangerous travel conditions on highways and possible airport closures.

Minneapolis and Green Bay, Wis., will be in the path of heaviest snow. And accumulating snow and strong winds will extend southward into Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit, as well as through the Ohio Valley.

The heavy snow and dangerous combination of snow and wind will extend northeastward into the upper peninsula of Michigan and the northern part of lower Michigan, where winter storm watches and warnings are in effect. The warnings might need to be upgraded to blizzard warnings.

The dangerous combination of snow and wind will extend eastward through Ontario into Quebec on Sunday and Sunday night, but the southern part of the storm will still pack some punch as it moves through the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region.
While the center of the storm will remain to the north, the storm and lake-effect snow immediately following the storm will produce heavy snow in parts of western New York and western Pennsylvania. Mild air racing northward in advance of the storm will likely prevent high snowfall amounts farther to the east, but rain changing to snow might result in slippery road conditions as far east as the major cities along the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday evening.

The storm will be followed by a blast of cold air that will be more intense than the cold that gripped much of the nation last week.

Daytime temperatures will remain below zero in parts of Minnesota on Monday, and below-freezing temperatures are again a threat as far south as central Florida by the middle of next week. The cold air pouring over the relatively warm lakes will result in another multiday snowstorm in the lee of the Great Lakes. Snowfall totals of 1 to 3 feet are likely in the typically hard-hit snow belt regions, the same general area that had between 1 and 4 feet of snow this week.