Thursday, March 24, 2016

Winter Storm Selene Spreads Snow, Ice to Great Lakes, Northern New England After High Plains Blizzard (FORECAST)

March 24,2016
Winter Storm Selene crippled travel through the Front Range of the Rockies and High Plains Wednesday, and is now laying down its last blanket of snow in the Great Lakes and far northern New England.
Up to 31 inches of snow buried parts of the Front Range of Colorado, including the Denver metro Wednesday. Motorists were stranded on snow-choked roads in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. For more reports and perspective, scroll to our storm recap below.
(LATEST NEWS: Highways Shutdown Due to Whiteout Conditions)
Snow has long-since ended in the Rockies and High Plains. Now, the heaviest snow is in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Snow has also spread into parts of Upstate New York and northern New England.
(INTERACTIVE: Radar | Latest Storm Reports)

Latest Radar
It's not just snow, either. Ice accumulation was reported mainly on trees and vehicles in parts of southeast Wisconsin, Lower Michigan, western and central New York. Just over 0.25 inch of ice accumulation in trees was reported in Greenville, Michigan, early Thursday.
A large swath from the Upper Midwest, across the Great Lakes and into northern New England is under winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories.
(MORE: Extreme Winter Storms...in Spring)

Current Winter Alerts
The warm side of Winter Storm Selene will also produce severe thunderstorms and heavy rain in parts of the South and Midwest. See the link below for more details on the severe threat.
(MORE: Severe Weather Threat This Week)

How Much Additional Snow?

  • At least another 6 inches of snow possible: Parts of northern Lower and eastern Upper Michigan and far northern Maine. 
  • Less than another 6 inches: Northeast Kansas to the western upper peninsula of Michigan; a brief brush of light snow is possible as the storm wraps up in southern Wisconsin and perhaps northern Illinois. Upstate New York, the Green and White Mountains, and parts of central Maine will also see light accumulations.

Additional Snowfall Forecast
Strong, gusty winds will also accompany the snow in some areas, leading to reduced visibility and treacherous travel conditions Thursday. This could impact stretches of Interstates 43 and 75, and lingering blowing snow may continue to keep stretches of Interstates 29, 70 shut down for some time even after snow has ended. Numerous roads were closed Wednesday in Wyoming and Colorado due to snow and high winds.
(INTERACTIVE: Commuter Forecast)
In addition, a band of freezing rain or sleet is still possible from the Great Lakes into northern New England.
In some locations, this may not only lead to slick roads, particularly overpasses, but also some sporadic sagging or downed tree limbs and power outages.
(MORE: Impacts of Ice Accumulations)

Additional Ice Accumulation

Winter Storm Selene Timing

Thursday-Friday
  • Snow or freezing rain is expected from parts of southern Minnesota and Iowa and the Great Lakes into western, central and Upstate New York and northern New England Thursday.
  • Strong winds will continue to cause reduced visibility and hazardous travel conditions to the north and northwest of where the low tracks in the Midwest.
  • Any snow or freezing rain should be confined to far northern Maine Friday.

Thursday's Forecast

Winter Storm Selene Snow Reports

Here are top snowfall totals and ice reports by state for Winter Storm Selene as of Thursday morning. The snow from Selene began as early as Monday in California and Oregon.
California: 16 inches at Sierra at Tahoe Ski Resort; 15 inches at Sugarbowl Ski Area
Colorado: 31.6 inches near Pinecliffe; Portions of I-70 and I-25 closed Wednesday; Denver Int'l Airport closed Wednesday
Iowa: 17 inches just north-northeast of Sioux City; 0.5 inches with trees, powerlines down in Waukon
Idaho: 5 inches estimated at Galena Summit Snotel west of Galena
Michigan: 11 inches near Menominee; 0.25 inch ice in Freemont and Greenville (mainly on trees, untreated roads)
Minnesota: 12 inches in Savage
Montana: 13 inches west of Red Lodge
Nebraska: 15 inches near Wakefield
Nevada: 10 inches at Diamond Peak Ski Resort
New York: Light glaze of ice on elevated surfaces in Leroy, Milton, N. Tonawanda, Porter Corners and Salem
Oregon: 11 inches estimated at Milk Shakes Snotel southwest of Ski Bluewood
South Dakota: 14.3 inches in Dakota Dunes (near Sioux City, Iowa)
Wisconsin: 12 inches in Augusta; 0.2 inch ice in trees in West Bend
Wyoming: 16 inches estimated at Little Goose Snotel northwest of Buffalo; 14.1 inches in Cheyenne with all highways and roads closed Wednesday morning.

Selene's Snowfall Totals, So Far
Officially, 13.1 inches of snow was recorded at Denver International Airport on March 23, the fifth snowiest March day on record in the Mile High City, according to the National Weather Service.
However, parts of the Denver metro picked up over 2 feet of snow, including 25 inches in Aurora, and 24 inches in Westminster.
Cheyenne, Wyoming, had its fourth heaviest calendar-day snow on record March 23 (14.1 inches), in records dating to 1915. It was also the Wyoming capital's second heaviest March calendar-day snow, topped only by the infamous March, 18, 2003 Front Range snowstorm.
Blizzard conditions extended out into the High Plains snarling travel into western Nebraska and northwest Kansas. At one time, long stretches of Interstates 25, 70, 76, and 80 were shut down in northeast Colorado, southern Wyoming, western Nebraska, and northwest Kansas.
NWS North Platte ✔ ‎@NWSNorthPlatte
Yesterday's strong winds & snow, wreaked havoc in the Upper Air building here at the NWS in North Platte, NE.

Occasional gusts over 50 mph were measured for just over 9 straight hours on March 23 in North Platte, Nebraska. Several wind gusts to 75 mph were clocked at the U.S. Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs.
The weight of the heavy, wet snow in addition to those strong winds, downed trees and powerlines in some areas.
To the east, the Sioux City, Iowa, metro area picked up over a foot of snow, clogging roads the morning of March 24.
Tim Hynds ‎@tfhphoto
Photo: Be careful, that's a lot of . @scj @NWSSiouxFalls @sux911

A mess of freezing rain and sleet coated trees and car tops from Iowa to New York state. Up to one-half inch of accumulation was noted in Waukon, Iowa, while at least one-quarter inch of ice and sleet was measured in parts of Lower Michigan.
The ice spread into Ontario, leading to a tricky morning commute and power outages in Toronto.
Amin Rahim ‎@ar09
The skating rink at Union Station @CP24

It's not unusual to see snow after the spring equinox in many of the areas that could see accumulating snow this week. For parts of the northern/central Rockies and the adjacent High Plains, April is actually the snowiest month of the year, on average.
(MORE: Where March and April are the Snowiest Months)
The name Selene comes from Greek mythology meaning goddess of the moon.

MORE: Photos From Winter Storm Selene

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