Snow, Slippery Travel to Target Minneapolis to DC and NYC

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

January 20,2015; 8:13PM,EST

 

 

Rounds of snow will move through the North Central states early this week with one swath streaking eastward to the mid-Atlantic and southern New England at midweek.
On the heels of the storm that delivered mostly rain, but also a swath of ice and some snow to the Northeast on Sunday, a pair of Alberta Clipper storm systems will take a path from western Canada to the northern Plains to the mid-Atlantic.
The storms this week will travel through a swath of seasonable temperatures with colder air to the north and warm air to the south.
Both storms will bring a band of nuisance snow to the North Central states but could have very different results in the Northeast.
The first system started on Monday. The system delivered an icy mix to parts of Iowa and will continue to push a bit of snow from Minnesota to western Pennsylvania through Tuesday.

This first system will be more of a nuisance snow with most accumulations being held to a coating to an inch with a few pockets of 2 inches.
While travelers will escape major disruptions, roads could still become slick for a time along the swath from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Detroit and Cleveland.
On Tuesday, the storm will fizzle and struggle to push any snow or rain east of the Appalachians in the mid-Atlantic.
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The same cannot be said for the second storm that will reach the Northeast on Wednesday.
Initially, the storm will spread a general inch to as much as 3 inches of snow through the northern Plains through Tuesday with the snow streaking to the lower Great Lakes Tuesday night into Wednesday.

In the path of this snow and the potential for slick travel includes Bismarck, North Dakota; Aberdeen, South Dakota; Minneapolis; Chicago; and Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Snow will then develop from the West Virginia mountains to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and southern New York on Wednesday. The southern fringe of the snow will affect Washington, D.C.
The snow's northern fringe will then spread over Boston Wednesday night into Thursday as the snow takes a track over southern New England.

A narrow band of moderate to heavy snow may develop over part of the mid-Atlantic and could overcome marginal temperatures and warm road surfaces. Rain or a wintry mix could quickly change to snow.
"If this narrow band of heavier develops, it can quickly cover roads during the daytime hours or in this case during the period from the afternoon into the evening," according to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"Such a narrow band of snow could develop over parts of northern West Virginia and northern Virginia to northern Maryland, central and southern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and southern New Jersey."
A major snowstorm will not develop, nor will black ice be an issue, but enough snow will fall to cause headaches for travelers and potential interruptions to daily routines for residents. Motorists should prepare for roads to turn slushy and slippery, while airline passengers may be faced with delays.
"The main time for travel problems along the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to New York City on Wednesday will be during the evening and overnight hours," stated AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek.
"The snow will struggle to accumulate within this zone during the day due to above-freezing temperatures and melting. During the evening, the worse it can get for travelers as temperatures fall."
People traveling along Interstate-83, I-70, I-76, I-78 and I-81 in the region should be prepared for delays related to snow and slippery roads for the drive home on Wednesday.
As the snow departs, fresh chilly air will pour into the Northeast later this week. Even colder air will then close out the month.