Cold air, snowstorm potential may return to eastern US next week

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

February 16,2016; 10:41AM,EST

 

 

Following a break from winter storms and arctic air, colder conditions and the potential for snow will return to parts of the eastern United States during the middle of next week.
First, temperatures will moderate and storms will retreat northward later this week and this weekend across much of the nation.
Colder air will seep southward into the East next week. Highs in the 30s and 40s F will replace 50- and 60-degree air in many locations from the southern Appalachians to the New England coast.
According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, "The cold air coming in next week will not be nearly as cold as the outbreak that occurred over the Valentine's Day weekend."
However, the cold air may coincide with a storm that may track near the Atlantic Seaboard during the middle of next week.

According to AccuWeather Chief Long Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, "Many of our indicators are suggesting that a significant storm will form along the Atlantic coast of the United States next week."
The exact track and strength of the storm will determine whether enough cold air will be drawn in to produce snow instead of a cold rain from the Appalachians to the Interstate-95 corridor.
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This is the type of situation where the storm could begin as rain and transition to snow, which would be the opposite of how the Presidents Day storm unfolded.
At this early stage, the possibility for wet snow could extend as far south as the Carolinas and as far north as Maine.
Keep checking back with AccuWeather in the coming days as more details will become clear on temperature trends and whether or not the storm will hug the coast or drift offshore.