Late-Week Ice Storm May Threaten Travel From Texas to Pennsylvania

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

December 2,2013; 9:09PM,EST

 

 

A swath of ice and a wintry mix later this week threatens to slow travel and cut power from parts of Texas to Pennsylvania.
As dangerous cold sweeps southward and eastward over the Plains and Midwest in the wake of a North Central states snowstorm, it will set up a weather pattern favoring a narrow zone of freezing rain, sleet and some snow late this week.

The icy mix will spread from part of northern Texas Thursday to central Kentucky and southern Ohio Thursday night to central Pennsylvania Friday.
The potential for slippery travel includes the cities of Dallas; Oklahoma City; Little Rock, Ark.; Louisville, Ky.; Cincinnati; and State College, Pa.
There is the potential for ice and a wintry mix to last more than a few hours. In some cases, a buildup of ice may span two days, which could result in sporadic power outages.
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A wedge of warm air will hold over the southeastern United States and will extend northward to the I-95 Northeast this week. The warmth is forecast to outlast the precipitation in this area so that rain falls from Houston to Atlanta and in the corridor from Raleigh, N.C., to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

However, at the tail end of the rain, a brief period of freezing rain, sleet and/or snow is possible in Shreveport, La.; Memphis, Tenn.; London, Ky.; Charleston, W.Va.; and Scranton, Pa.