Winter Storm Sparta: Snow, Ice In the Midwest and Northeast; Icy Mixture in the Mid-Atlantic (FORECAST)

Jon Erdman
Published: March 1,2015



 

Winter Storm Sparta will continue to bring snow and ice to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic into Sunday evening. Winter storm warnings have been issued for parts of the Mid-Atlantic into early Monday morning, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Poor travel conditions and accidents due to ice were reported in North Carolina early Sunday morning. Farther north, similar reports of treacherous travel conditions from ice have been received from the Mid-Atlantic region, including the Washington, D.C. metro area. For full details on the latest impacts from the storm, click here.

Current Radar

Winter Weather Alerts

Sunday Night Forecast

Snowfall Forecast Through Monday Morning

Snow will taper off farther to the west across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio by Sunday evening. Parts of those three states plus Missouri have seen more than a half foot of snow from Sparta.
The forecast for Sparta's wintry mess through Sunday night is below. Winter Storm Thor will follow right behind Sparta in the new week ahead. For details on Thor, click here.
(MORE: Expert Analysis | Winter Storm Central)

Snow, Ice Continue

The maps show our current forecasts for Sunday and Sunday night.
Here is the general flavor of this snowy and icy mess.
Snow: 
- Snow tapers off later in the day and into the evening from west-to-east across the Midwest.
- Snow continues across the Northeast from portions of Pennsylvania and New York to New England. Most areas will see 1-3 inches of accumulation with some higher totals of up to 6 inches possible, particularly from the New York City area to far southern New England.
- New York City will see snow continue into Sunday evening before ending or possibly changing to light rain or light freezing rain.
- Boston will see snow into Sunday night with 3-5 inches of accumulation possible.
- CITIES: Indianpolis | Columbus, Ohio | Binghamton, New York | Boston
Sleet/ice
- To the south of that stripe of snow, sleet and/or freezing rain will continue in the Mid-Atlantic states.
- This does not appear to be a major ice storm. Instead, impacts mainly look to be slick roads, especially bridges and overpasses, with perhaps some sporadic power outages in the extreme.
- The greatest ice accumulations of around a quarter inch are expected from far northern Virginia to southeast Pennsylvania and central New Jersey. The chance for some broken tree limbs and isolated power outages may be a little higher in these areas. This includes Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.
(MAPS: 10-day Forecast)
Check back with us at weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on this wintry mess.

Recap: Wintry Mess From Southern Plains to the East

Sparta's impacts began on Friday when an upper-level impulse associated with a developing southward dip in the jet stream spread snow into some of the same parts of north Texas and southern Oklahoma, which were just blanketed by both Winter Storms Quantum and Remus.
Slick and icy roads in Oklahoma created dangerous travel conditions on Friday, and one driver lost control of his vehicle and hit another car, killing a passenger and critically injuring another.
In Missouri, snowy and icy conditions on I-44 near Rolla caused a multi-vehicle pile up, forcing the closure of the interstate for a period of time on Saturday.
As of early Sunday afternoon, the storm has dumped more than 6 inches of snow on parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Light icing from Sparta caused very slick conditions in North Carolina on Sunday morning, with accidents reported on parts of I-95, I-85 and I-540. Icy conditions were also reported in the Mid-Atlantic region late Sunday morning and early Sunday afternoon.
Some notable snow and ice reports from Sparta as of early Sunday afternoon:
- New Mexico: 12 inches near Wagon Mound; 6 inches in Pecos; 9.6 inches in Albuquerque (From Winter Storms Thor and Sparta combined)
- Texas: 6 inches in Cottondale; 4.5 inches in Sanger; 1.5 inches in Denison
- Oklahoma: 7 inches in Skiatook; 0.3 inches in Tulsa
- Arkanasas: 4 inches near Odell; 2.5 inches in Fayetteville
- Missouri: 8 inches in Center; 4.4 inches in St. Louis
- Illinois: 9.7 inches in Ogden; 8.1 inches in Springfield
- Indiana: 8.5 inches in Middletown; 7.8 inches in Indianapolis
- Ohio: 8 inches in St. Marys; 4.9 inches in Dayton
- West Virginia: 5 inches in Newell; 3 inches in Moundsville
- Pennsylvania: 5.3 inches in Sarver; 4 inches in New Castle
- North Carolina: Ice accumulations a tenth of an inch or less. Many accidents reported.
- New York: 1.7 inches in Brooklyn; 2 inches in West Islip.

MORE: Winter Storm Sparta Photos