WeatherFanatics: Multiple Winter Storms to Cross US Through Christmas

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Multiple Winter Storms to Cross US Through Christmas

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

December 17,2014; 8:30PM,EST

Several storms with snow, ice, rain and thunderstorms may affect areas from the South Central states to the Northeast through the weekend after Christmas.
Mother Nature will provide a stormy weather pattern over the next couple of weeks.
While details including timing, track and exact precipitation type for the storms have yet to be determined, the storms will bring enough precipitation to slow travel as they move along.
In a press release by the American Automobile Association (AAA), 98.6 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more during the period spanning Dec. 23 to Jan. 4.
This represents an increase of 4 percent from last year and the highest travel volume on record, since 2001, according to AAA. Lower gas prices are contributing to more disposable income and money for travel.
According to AccuWeather.com Long-Range Expert Paul Pastelok, "The storms will develop in the Southern states and then track northeastward. How far north the storms track into the cold air will determine the extent of snow."
Round One: Light, Spotty Wintry Mix This Weekend
After crossing the southern Rockies, a storm that originated from the Pacific will reorganize near the upper Texas coast on Friday. Rain and thunderstorms will break out over central and southeastern Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
RELATED:
AccuWeather Travel Center
AccuWeather Winter Weather Center
White Christmas Forecast: Best Odds for Interior Northeast, Midwest and Rockies
Depending upon how much moisture is thrown northward into colder air will determine the amount of snow and ice that develops over the middle Mississippi and Ohio valleys during the first part of the weekend.
The storm has the potential to impact holiday shoppers in parts of the Midwest and South on what could be the biggest shopping day and weekend of the year. According to Bloomberg, with Saturday this year occurring five days before Christmas it has the potential to surpass retails sales from Black Friday.

Since the storm is likely to stay week and split into two parts, only spotty wintry light precipitation is forecast.
The light wintry mix will affect the Ohio Valley on Saturday, the central Appalachians during Saturday night and the coastal areas of the mid-Atlantic and New England on Sunday.
The second part of this storm may bring some rain to the Atlantic coast on Monday.
Round Two: Major Storm Near Christmas
Another storm is projected to take shape over the South Central states or perhaps the Gulf of Mexico a couple of days before Christmas.
This storm would then track northeastward around the holiday itself and has the potential to be strong and very disruptive in terms of travel.

AccuWeather.com has more information on this storm.
Round Three: Storm Potential Prior to New Year
A third storm may try to take shape during the time from shortly after Christmas to before the New Year holiday.
According to Long-Range Expert Mark Paquette, "While not all of these storms will be a snow threat for the major travel hubs in the Midwest and Northeast, there does not have to be arctic air in place for them to bring at least some snow and ice problems."
While the storm track from the Pacific Ocean will shift north of much of California before Christmas, one storm after another will hit the Northwest with coastal rain and inland and mountain snow.
Despite the stormy pattern, there will be periods between the storms across the nation when travel conditions will improve.
AccuWeather.com will have more information and details on the storms and weather conditions for holiday travel in the coming days.
There is an indication that the stormy pattern will continue to amplify as colder air becomes more extensive moving forward into the first part of the new year, Pastelok and Paquette agreed.

On Social Media

Tweets for this article AccuWeather Updates