WeatherFanatics: Midwest Snow to Spread Southward Into Thursday

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Midwest Snow to Spread Southward Into Thursday

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

January 1,2014; 9:00PM,EST

A series of snowstorms rolling southeastward from western Canada will continue to affect a heavily populated area of the Midwest, centered on the I-80/90 corridor.
During the period from Wednesday night into Thursday, the band of snow will shift southward and broaden over the Midwest.
Due to the frigid air in place, most of the snow will stick to the roads making for slippery travel to I-70 and as far south as I-64.
Expect flight delays and cancellations due to deicing activities at local airports and due to aircraft and crews delayed from cities being hit with heavy snowfall in the East.

Cities on the receiving end of snow include St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
A general swath of 3 to 6 inches of snow is forecast to fall from eastern Missouri, eastward to northern and central portions of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio to western Pennsylvania. However, heavier snowfall is possible at the local level just downwind of lakes Michigan and Erie.
A zone of 1 to 3 inches of snow will fall farther south over Missouri through the Ohio Valley and into the central and southern Appalachians.
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A sharp cutoff to the northern edge of the snow is likely, due to the magnitude of the dry, frigid air sitting across the northern tier of the nation.
Most of the snow will stay south of Minneapolis, Madison, Wis., and Flint, Mich.
The storm will focus in the East Thursday into Friday, so the airline issues locally may last through the end of the week and could cause problems for those planning on resuming business activities, returning home from vacations or heading back to school.

In the wake of the caboose in the storm train, lake-effect may continue to bring locally heavy snow to areas along the western and southern shores of Lake Michigan, including Chicago and Milwaukee, along the southern shore of Lake Superior and the southwestern shores of Lake Huron on Thursday.
Along the northern tier of the United States, temperatures may fail to get above zero until Friday.
Another blast of brutally cold air is forecast to sweep southeastward from Canada during the first half of next week.
Tune in to AccuWeather Live Mornings every weekday at 7 a.m. EST. We will be talking about the snowstorm in the Northeast and Midwest, along with the brutal cold.