Winter's One-Two Punch: Alberta Clippers to Bringing Cold Air, Snow, Wind to the Midwest and East

By: Nick Wiltgen and Chrissy Warrilow

Published: January 14,2014

 

 

 

 

 

It's a one-two punch from Old Man Winter: a pair of Alberta clippers will quickly sweep through the Northern Plains, Great Lakes, and parts of the East this week.

Clipper Number 1: Now through Wednesday

Clipper 1 - Current Radar

• INTERACTIVE RADAR

Clipper 1 - Snowfall Forecast

The first clipper low is now moving through the Great Lakes, bringing blustery winds and a stripe of light to moderate snow across these regions. As expected, we've already seen a few amounts in excess of 8 inches in central Wisconsin, with 8.5 inches reported at Merrill, Wis., by mid-afternoon Tuesday. Winter storm warnings and advisories remain in effect overnight for parts of Wisconsin and Michigan.
Drivers can expect reduced visibility in open areas. Well-treated main highways should not have too many problems, but beware of slick spots on secondary roads, neighborhood streets, on/off ramps, bridges, parking lots, etc.
(FORECAST: Milwaukee | Green Bay, Wis. | Traverse City, Mich.)
This low will continue a left-curving trajectory Wednesday, taking it into eastern Canada. However, a sharp cold front will plunge southward all the way to the Gulf Coast, sending temperatures tumbling in the South. In addition, an upper-air disturbance south of the original clipper may help to generate clouds and precipitation over the Southeast.
Taking these factors into account, some light snowfall is possible overnight into Wednesday from western parts of New York and Pennsylvania to areas as far south as the mountains of east Tennessee and western North Carolina. Accumulations are expected to generally be less than one inch.
(FORECAST: Pittsburgh | Knoxville, Tenn.)
A few flurries may fly over the surrounding lower elevations, even as far south as Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala., overnight into early Wednesday.
Depending on the evolution of that southern disturbance, a light rain/snow mix can't be totally ruled out along the Mid-Atlantic coast Thursday. However, that is starting to look more unlikely with the disturbance probably wandering too far offshore.

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Clipper Number 2: Wednesday through Friday

A second, possibly stronger Alberta clipper will zip southeast out of Canada beginning Wednesday. Snow will target North Dakota, Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin by the end of Wednesday.
By Thursday, the center of low pressure will slam on the brakes as it moves over the northern Great Lakes, bringing a light to moderate snow and blowing snow from the eastern Dakotas to the Great Lakes.
While snowfall is expected to be trifling by Upper Midwest standards, the winds will be anything but trifling. In fact, sustained winds could easily exceed 35 mph, taking the expected one inch of new snow, along with snow on the ground from the previous clipper, and whipping it into a blizzard. Remember, a blizzard is defined by wind speeds and visibility criteria, and not the amount of snow that falls.
As a result, blizzard watches have been posted by the National Weather Service for parts of the Dakotas and western and southern Minnesota late Wednesday into Thursday.
(FORECAST: Minot, N.D. | Fargo, N.D. | Aberdeen, S.D.)
For now, the worst driving conditions are expected to stay west (and perhaps also south) of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
The fierce winds with this clipper will not only cause blowing snow, but they will also send temperatures plummeting Thursday, causing wind chills to drop well below zero in the Dakotas and western Minnesota.
Like the previous clipper, this low-pressure center will turn northeast into eastern Canada by Friday, weakening considerably. Still, light snow showers are possible from the eastern Great Lakes to the southern Appalachians on Friday. Cold air in the wake of this clipper may allow lake-effect snow showers to linger over portions of northern and western Michigan and northern Indiana on Friday as well.
(FORECAST: Chicago | Detroit | Cleveland)
There is a chance that a secondary coastal low could form along the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast coast by Saturday as part of the larger weather pattern associated with this clipper. This may allow some snow to persist over parts of the Northeast for the first half of the weekend. However, details are very uncertain at this time.
Beyond this week, indications point to the possibility of additional clipper-type systems swinging across the north-central and northeastern U.S. after these two.
MORE: Photos of the Early January 2014 Deep Freeze

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Detroit

Detroit's high of 1 degree below zero Tuesday, Jan. 7, was the city's coldest high since a high of -4 on Jan. 19, 1994, and only the sixth subzero reading in 140 years of records. Photo: Traffic backs up along I-75 due to icy conditions in Detroit Tuesday, Jan. 7. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)