WeatherFanatics: Winter Reigns Again as Stormy Pattern Resumes

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Winter Reigns Again as Stormy Pattern Resumes

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

February 25,2014; 7:00PM,EST

As cold air becomes re-established over the northern half of the nation, multiple storms will continue to move along with rounds of disruptive wintry precipitation.
Over the next couple of weeks, multiple storm tracks will keep the weather pattern rather busy.
One pathway will allow storms to cruise along the Deep South with rounds of showers and thunderstorms.
Clipper storms will also be running about. These moisture-lean storms will drop in from the Canada Prairies and will sweep across the Midwest and Northeast, spreading light, spotty snow.

Stronger storms from the Pacific Ocean will also move eastward across the country, beginning early next week. The stronger storms from the Pacific will bring much-needed rainfall and mountain snow to California and neighboring states.
The storms affecting the eastern two-thirds of the nation during this week are forecast to be on the weaker side of the spectrum. However, they can bring a few rounds of light to moderate snowfall and a wintry mix in the Northern states. These rounds of snow can be enough to cause delays and disruptions to daily activities and travel.
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"As a storm moves from the Tennessee Valley to the mid-Atlantic coast, enough cold air may be in place to bring some snow or a wintry mix to the southern Appalachians to parts of northern North Carolina and Virginia Tuesday night," AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Mark Mancuso said.
The same system may bring light to moderate snow over a large part of the mid-Atlantic and New England on Wednesday.
People should expect minor delays from snow or a wintry mix on one or two days along I-80 and I-64 in the north, along I-10 and I-20 in the South from rounds of rain and fog and along I-81 and I-95 that span cold and warm weather precipitation. The system passing through the Northeast on Wednesday will drop a general inch or two of snow with some exceptions.

Meanwhile, most thunderstorms in the South this week will not be severe, but a few storms can be a bit feisty at the local level.
According AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson, "You have to watch the upper-level steering winds. If these winds begin to buckle and the northern and southern branches phase, then a stronger storm may come about that tracks farther north with heavy precipitation."
There is a better chance that the two branches of steering winds phase a bit beginning this coming weekend and next week as the stronger storms from the Pacific Ocean move inland.
"These Pacific storms may bring the potential for more major disruptions," Anderson said, "But the storm track of each will determine which areas get rain versus snow or a wintry mix."
The stronger storm systems this weekend into next week will also bring a greater chance for severe weather in the South.
Ahead of the larger storms, the harshest of the cold in this pattern will be in place.
"There will be record-challenging cold over the Midwest during the second half of the week," Mancuso said.

Temperatures may plunge well below zero in Chicago and Detroit Thursday night.
The cold will continue to settle eastward and southward as this week progresses.

Temperatures could reach zero F late in the week over the interior Northeast.
The lingering cold air and great temperature contrast zone in areas from the central Plains to the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic could add extra energy to those larger storms as they move along this weekend into next week.

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