WeatherFanatics: Snow, Local Blizzard Conditions to Sweep Great Lakes Saturday

Friday, January 24, 2014

Snow, Local Blizzard Conditions to Sweep Great Lakes Saturday

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

January 24,2014; 10:11PM,EST

A large and strong Alberta Clipper storm will swing across the Great Lakes region on Friday night and Saturday with strong winds, areas of flurries, accumulating snow and local blizzard conditions. The storm will also affect New England and much of the mid-Atlantic.
The storm has the potential to bring dangerous conditions on the highways including I-65, I-69, I-75, I-79. I-80/90, I-94, I-196 and Route 219. Flight delays are possible at Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, N.Y.
In the wake of a very weak Alberta Clipper on Thursday, a larger and stronger clipper storm will drop in from Canada on Friday.

The stronger storm will ride a reinforcing blast of bitterly cold air that will slash temperatures by 10 to 20 degrees this weekend, preceded by a modest rebound.
The powerful circulation around the storm will bring wind gusts to 50 mph in some locations.

According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist John Gresiak, "The combination of rounds of powdery snow, gusty winds and low temperatures can make for whiteouts and brief blizzard conditions."
Roads that were previously cleared of ice and snow can become slippery in a matter of minutes.
The weather pattern favoring relentless cold in the Eastern States and prolonged warmth in the West will continue through the end of January.
Several inches of snow may fall from the storm as it moves eastward across the Midwest and into the central and northern Appalachians Friday night into Saturday night.
RealFeel® temperatures will plunge well below zero as the storm approaches and moves by. In the wake of the storm, actual temperatures will be in the single digits around Chicago and Minneapolis and the teens over much of the northern Ohio Valley states and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
Lake effect can enhance snowfall rates in localized areas. Since some of the lakes still have large stretches that are free of ice, bands of heavy snow are possible just ahead of the system on southwest winds and behind the system on northwest winds.
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"In areas where the lakes are frozen, the smooth, flat surface will be a source for the high winds to send snowdrifts ashore," Gresiak stated.
Some snow and slippery travel will reach as far south as the Ohio Valley as far east as the I-81 and I-95 corridors in the Northeast. Initially, a period of light snow will affect the upper part of the mid-Atlantic to New England Saturday morning. Next, snow squalls will sweep in Saturday afternoon. Areas from northern Maryland, northwestern Virginia, and New Jersey northward to southern New England could get a coating to a couple of inches of snow.

The storm will make for blustery conditions throughout the Northeast this weekend and will push much colder air back into the region Saturday night, after a brief temperature spike on Saturday.
Another clipper storm Sunday into Monday could bring another round of accumulating snow to parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
That clipper storm will begin to put down snow Saturday over part of the northern Plains.