Winter Storm Maximus to Bring Snow, Ice to Over 30 States Through Monday

By: By Jon Erdman

Published: January 31,2014

 

 

 

 

Winter Storm Maximus, the 13th named storm of the winter season in the U.S., will lay down a wintry mess from coast to coast by the time it is finally over Monday morning.
This storm will have multiple waves of snow, sleet and freezing rain sweeping west to east across the country.
Let's break the details day by day.

Latest Radar

• INTERACTIVE RADAR

Saturday's Forecast

48-Hour Snowfall Forecast

• WINTER ALERTS

Saturday

Saturday's snow will be spread among several regions.
First, snow will continue over parts of the northern and central Rockies. Additional snowfall amounts in excess of one foot is likely over the high country of Colorado through early Saturday.
(MAP: Western snowfall forecast)
A second area of light to moderate snow will camp out in west-to-east fashion over the Plains Friday, then intensify Friday night into Saturday from the Missouri Valley to northern New England.
By Saturday morning, significant snow will be falling from Iowa and far northern Missouri into southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Lower Michigan, far northern Indiana and northern Ohio. Expect challenging travel Saturday morning in these areas, along with airport delays and cancelations.
(FORECASTS: Chicago | Detroit)
As Saturday progresses, the snow shield will pull quickly to the northeast. By Saturday night, the only lingering snow in the East should be over Upstate New York and far northern New England. Farther south along the trailing cold front, precipitation should fall as rain from western New York into the Ohio Valley and Mid-South.
Total snow accumulations east of the Rockies through late Saturday should be highest in a zone from southern Iowa and northern Missouri to northern Illinois, northwest Indiana and Lower Michigan, with over six inches likely. Some local accumulations of a foot cannot be ruled out.
There will also be areas of sleet and freezing rain from Kansas eastward into the Ohio Valley. While a few areas may pick up ice accumulations over one-quarter inch, leading to some sagging tree limbs and sporadic power outages, this does not appear to be a major ice storm capable of downing numerous trees and triggering massive power outages over a widespread area.
By midday Saturday, any freezing rain will have ended in these areas, or changed over to rain.
That's not all, folks. One final conclusion to Maximus will sweep through a different area starting Sunday.

Sunday's Forecast

Monday's Forecast

Sunday-Monday

With Super Bowl Sunday coming up, it's left many wondering: Will Winter Storm Maximus affect the big game?
At this point it looks like precipitation is unlikely in northern New Jersey around kickoff. That is welcome news to thousands of people that will be there for the game.
(MORE: Super Bowl 2014 Weather Forecast)
Otherwise, yet another wave of wintry precipitation kicks off early Sunday in the Southern Plains, spreading to the Ozarks Sunday afternoon, then sweeping quickly through the Appalachians and, potentially, at least part of the Northeast Sunday night and Monday.
Snow accumulations Sunday look most likely in a stripe from northwest Texas into parts of Oklahoma and northern Arkansas, with several inches of accumulation possible. We'll hone in on those details as we get closer to the event.
(FORECASTS: Wichita Falls | Ft. Smith)
We can't rule out patchy areas of sleet or freezing rain along the southern edge of this wintry stripe Sunday into early Monday from parts of north Texas into Arkansas, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The forecast for the East Coast Monday, frankly, is highly uncertain, ranging from the following ends of the spectrum:

• Option A: A minimal stripe of light snow, freezing rain or sleet mainly south of the Mason-Dixon line. 
• Option B: Wintry mess of snow, sleet and freezing rain affecting a significant portion of the I-95 urban corridor from southern New England to the Mason-Dixon Line, and perhaps south of there.

To be clear, option B above would likely not be a major snowstorm with high winds and, say, 10-inch-plus snowfall totals over a widespread area. However, that would have the potential for several inches of snow, leading to significant travel headaches Monday by road and by air.
(FORECASTS: Boston | NYC | Philly | Wash, D.C.)
Check back with us at weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on Winter Storm Maximus.

MORE: Winter Storm Maximus Photos

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Snow accumulates near Denver during Winter Storm Maximus on Jan. 30, 2014. (Courtesy of KUSA/9News.com)