Winter Storm Ion: Rockies, Midwest, Great Lakes, Mid-South Snow Followed by Brutal Cold

By: By Chris Dolce

Published: January 4,2014

 

 

 

 

Winter Storm Ion is spreading a swath of snow from the Rockies to portions of the Midwest, Great Lakes and Mid-South this weekend. Following closely behind Ion will be a blast of brutally cold air in the Midwest.
(MORE: Dangerous Cold Blast)
What can you expect from the snowy side of Ion? We have the forecast details below.

Sunday - Sunday Night: Snow, Wintry Mix From Midwest into Mid-South

Current Radar

• INTERACTIVE RADAR

Sunday's Forecast

Snowfall Forecast

Sunday Night South Forecast

Ion's upper-level energy, which brought snow to the Rockies through the Central Plains and into the Great Lakes on Saturday, will pivot eastward into the nation's midsection through early Sunday. As a result, low pressure will begin to develop over the Southern Plains and then head towards the eastern Great Lakes by Sunday night.
This will lead to the development of widespread accumulating snow from Missouri to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and southern Lower Michigan through Sunday morning. The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for portions of these states.
The snow will be heavy at times and will be accompanied by increasing winds, which will lead to low visibility and very poor travel conditions Sunday.
(MORE: Winter Storm Alerts | Interstate Forecast)
As our forecast map to the right shows, we will see a wide area of 5 to 8 inches from eastern Missouri to Illinois, Indiana, northern and western Ohio and southern Lower Michigan. Embedded in this swath will be a corridor of heavier snow where some locations could see up to 12 inches. This includes St. Louis, Champaign, Ill., Indianapolis, Toledo, Ohio, Cleveland and Detroit.
Chicago experienced an initial band of snow along the Arctic cold front Saturday night. Additional accumulating snow is expected in Chicagoland through Sunday, resulting in storm totals of 5 inches or more in parts of the metro area. The heaviest accumulations will likely be on the south side.
(FORECAST: Chicago | St. Louis | Indianapolis | Toledo, Ohio | Detroit)
In parts of Kentucky, northern Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania and southern Ohio, there will likely be a transition from rain to snow Sunday into Sunday evening. Overall, snow accumulations will be lighter in most of these states.
This changeover from rain to snow or a wintry mix could extend as far south as portions of northern Mississippi, northern Alabama and northern Georgia late Sunday into Sunday night. Although accumulations will be light, slick travel conditions are possible given that the arriving blast of cold air will likely freeze any moisture on the roads.
Ion will also begin to impact the Northeast on Sunday, but with a different outcome from what we just saw with Winter Storm Hercules.

Sunday Night - Monday: Ion Slides Through the Northeast

Sunday Night Forecast

Monday's Forecast

Since the area of low pressure associated with Ion will track inland across the Northeast through Sunday night, we expect mainly rain along the I-95 corridor from Southern New England to New York City and Washington.
(FORECAST: Boston | New York | Washington)
Cold air may hang on longer in Northern New England and Upstate New York, allowing for a wintry mix to develop. Locations along and either side of the I-81 corridor from Virginia to southern New York may see some freezing rain initially before changing to rain on Sunday.
Rain could transition to a period of snow all the way to the coast as colder air wraps in behind the storm on Monday before the precipitation ends. However, significant accumulations are not expected near the I-95 corridor.
Cyclonic flow around the departing low pressure system will also allow lake-effect snow to develop throughout the Great Lakes region Monday through Wednesday. Significant accumulations of snow are likely, but the details of where the heaviest bands will set up are uncertain.
MORE: Photos of Winter Storm Ion

6 / 11

This iWitness photo from Hudsonville, Michigan was taken by Blake Harms. (Twitter/blake_harms)