Storm to Slicken Northeast With Rain, Ice and Snow This Weekend

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

March 10,2015; 8:42PM,EDT

 

 fter mild conditions much of the week, a push of chilly air by Friday will set the stage for some wintry precipitation in part of the Northeast this weekend.

The second storm in less than a week will travel up from the western Gulf of Mexico.
In a large part of the South, the rain from the second storm will catch up with lingering moisture from the first storm.

The rain from the second storm will reach much farther north than the storm from Tuesday.
The drenching rain will reach Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, New York, and will return to St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and eventually Boston.
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Accompanying the rain in the lower Great Lakes, mid-Atlantic and southern New England will be areas of fog and low cloud ceilings. As a result, in addition to slick roadways and poor visibility, flight delays can occur.
The storm this weekend will run into just enough cold air to bring rain and spotty ice for a time in the mid-Atlantic, but more snow and ice farther north in part of New England.

Despite the mild weather much of this week, the snow can accumulate on roads in upper part of the Northeast and slippery spots can occur as far south as the mid-Atlantic.
A few areas of black ice can form in parts of upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and southern New England as rain arrives Friday night. These icy areas will not be widespread, but will be most common on bridges and overpasses and areas that do not receive much direct sunlight during the day.
Enough mild air will flow northward with the storm to switch any ice over to rain in the mid-Atlantic and southern New England by Saturday midday.
Along with the rain will come more melting snow and the risk of flooding due to ice jams and rises on area streams from parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio to part of the mid-Atlantic and southern New England.
In many areas, the snowcover should be thick enough and temperatures low enough that the rain is absorbed, rather than immediately subject to runoff.
In central New England, the storm will likely begin as snow or a wintry mix late Friday night or Saturday and transition to rain as Saturday progresses. A couple of inches of snow and sleet can occur before a change to mostly rain.
Boston could challenge their record snowfall for a season with this storm, but the snow may be difficult to accumulate due to the wet nature of the storm. Thus far, Boston has received 105.7 inches of snow this winter, and the record of 107.6 inches was set during the winter of 1995-96.
In portions of northern upstate New York and northern New England, much of the precipitation with the storm will likely fall as snow with several inches possible.
As the storm passes by during Sunday, just enough cold air is forecast to dip southward to bring snow showers to parts of the lower Great Lakes, the central Appalachians and perhaps right to the New England coast.
A pattern of see-saw-like temperatures will follow next week.

Cold air will win out by midweek.