Major Oklahoma to Northeast Snowstorm in the Works

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

December 23,2012; 5:00PM,EST

All the ingredients are coming together for a major snowstorm to unfold Christmas Day and spread from the southern Plains to the eastern Great Lakes and Northeast.

Far more potent than the snow event headed to the Northeast Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, this storm will unload windswept and burying snow on its northwestern flank.

While snow will push through the Rockies--including Denver--Christmas Eve, the worst of the snowstorm will take shape Christmas Day across the southern Plains.
Snow will intensify Tuesday as it spreads from the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas to the Red River and western Arkansas. The major snowstorm will then press northeastward Tuesday night into Thursday, passing from Arkansas into the Ohio Valley, then the eastern Great Lakes and Northeast.

See Also:
Rare Christmas Snow for Dallas, Oklahoma City, Little Rock
Christmas Day Tornadoes: Southeast Texas to Florida
More Northeast Snow Just in Time for Christmas

Some snow will even press as far south as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Tuesday and northern Louisiana Tuesday night.

The storm has the potential to unleash a half of a foot or more of snow starting late Tuesday in eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. Totals may even top a foot, especially farther north across the eastern Great Lakes and interior Northeast.
While great news for children and those wishing their communities to turn into a winter wonderland around Christmas, the snowstorm is sure to create a nightmare for travelers.

There could be locally higher amounts in the above 3- to 6-inch zone.
Several inches of snow will alone make driving treacherous. Winds severely blowing and drifting the snow around will only worsen the situation by dramatically reducing visibility and further clogging roads.
Airline passengers in the path of the snowstorm should prepare for lengthy delays and cancellations.
Where the snow is preceded by rain, a greater danger lurks for motorists as rapidly falling temperatures will also cause any wet spots to turn icy.
Areas east of the storm's track--from the South and eastern Tennessee Valley to the Northeast's I-95 corridor--will be faced with soaking rain, capable of causing urban and flash flooding.

Strong, gusty winds may lead to coastal flooding and damage along the Northeast coast, while the stage is set for an outbreak of tornadoes and damaging thunderstorms in the South.

In between the rain and snow, there is concern for an icy mix (which in some cases will eventually transition to rain) across the upper Ohio Valley and from the I-81 corridor of Virginia to central Pennsylvania, the Hudson Valley and the I-95 corridor of the Northeast Wednesday into Wednesday night.
All residents and visitors from the southern Plains to the central Great Lakes and East should closely monitor this impending storm for updates by AccuWeather.com.
Holiday travelers may want to consider altering their plans to avoid driving during hazardous conditions and flight delays and cancellations, which windswept rain can even cause.