Snow to Blanket Rockies, Plains and Midwest Early This Week

By Brian Lada, Meteorologist

March 2,2015; 8:34PM,EST

 

 

A storm rolling out of the Southwest will spread a swath of heavy snow and travel disruptions from the Rockies to the northern Plains and Upper Midwest early this week.
The beginning of March marks the start of meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere, but this does not signal the end of winter weather in the United States.
The storm will impact the central and eastern portions of the nation on Tuesday, producing a wide variety of weather ranging from heavy snow to thunderstorms.
The storm produced locally heavy snow and areas of drenching rain this past weekend over the Southwest. The storm will linger over the Four Corners states and Nevada into early Tuesday.
During Tuesday, accumulating snowfall will fall from Wyoming and northern Colorado to South Dakota, northern and western Nebraska, northern Iowa, much of Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Michigan.

Tuesday looks to bring the worst in terms of snow-related disruptions as the winter storm spreads snow from Denver to Minneapolis and eastward to Ottawa, Ontario.
Snow-covered roads, slippery sidewalks and reduced visibility should be expected as the snow impacts areas long the I-80 and I-90 corridors.

Gusty winds may also blow the snow around, resulting in blizzard conditions for a time around Sough Dakota and southwestern Minnesota.
If you are planning to travel across this area on Tuesday, you should allow for extra time to reach your destination to account for the snow-related travel delays.
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Precipitation is also expected to start off as snow across the Northeast.
However, snow in this area should not accumulate much as warm air surging in from the south will allow for the snow to change to ice and then rain.
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Tuesday's snow will be followed by a blast of fresh arctic air across the northern Plains and Midwest on Wednesday as the storm system quickly tracks to the East.
This push of arctic air can cause any wet or slushy surfaces to freeze up on Tuesday night, leading to an icy commute on Wednesday.
A second storm will cause an wintry mix across part of northern Texas, the southern Plains and interior South on Wednesday into Thursday.

It does not appear though that this push of below-normal temperatures will remain over the Plains for long as temperatures moderate during the latter part of the week.
Much of the northern Plains and Midwest will stay dry for the rest of the week following the storm with dry weather holding into the upcoming weekend.