Northeast Snow Showers, Freeze-Up and Icy Spots

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

January 21,2013; 9:27PM,EST

The combination of colder air and snow (and rain) showers Monday can make for dangerous travel conditions in parts of the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and New England into Monday night.
The most impressive wave of Arctic air of the season so far is moving in during the first part of this week.
While that in itself may not be so bad for travelers, what accompanies the arctic air can lead to problems.
According to Expert Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity, "There is a concern that the showers initially wet road surfaces, then with falling temperatures the roads can quickly become icy."

The problem with the snow and rain showers is they are random and will only affect a small fraction of the area. Another issue is the shower activity will vary in intensity with some locations barely getting enough to impact the ground, while others may be heavy enough to bring sudden low visibility and perhaps a quick inch of snow.

The latest snowfall map is available on AccuWeather.com's Winter Weather Center.

Similar setups in the past have led to multiple vehicle accidents on Interstate 80 and other major highways.
In the Midwest, temperatures were holding in the teens or in some cases falling through the single digits and even staying below zero over part of the northern Plains.
Some areas in the I-95 corridor will have highs in the 30s and lower 40s Monday. However, temperatures will plunge quickly below freezing later this afternoon and evening as the arctic air takes hold. High temperatures will be in the 20s Tuesday and Wednesday from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia and New York City.

A weak storm system that originated from western Canada, called an Alberta Clipper, is producing the shower activity Monday.

The same storm will spin up just offshore Monday night and will work to throw a band of heavy snow into part of New England.

A weak Alberta Clipper can bring a touch of snow from part of the Ohio Valley Wednesday to the I-95 zone Wednesday night into Thursday from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia.

A significant Alberta Clipper aiming from the Midwest to the East has the potential to bring a couple of inches of snow to a broad area and locally heavier amounts Thursday into Friday.

Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski has more on the two storms affecting the Northeast this week. Meteorologist Courtney Spamer has information on the heavy lake-effect snow already under way around the Great Lakes.