Early Week Snowstorm Targets St. Louis, DC, Philadelphia

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

February 15,2015; 7:03PM,EST

 

 

While ice glazes places to the south, disruptive snow will track from Kansas to the mid-Atlantic early this week before returning to snow-weary New England on Tuesday.
The snowstorm that could prove to be the biggest so far this winter for many communities from Missouri to Virginia will begin to ramp up as the weekend comes to an end.
Snow will spread and intensify along the I-70 corridor from Denver to St. Louis, and down to Wichita, Kansas, and Springfield, Missouri, Sunday afternoon and night.
After reaching Louisville, Kentucky, by daybreak Monday, the snow will continue its journey eastward to the mid-Atlantic for Presidents' Day and Monday night. Tuesday is when any snow would return to New England.

Such a path through the start of Tuesday would take the snow from Springfield and St. Louis to Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; Charleston, West Virginia; Roanoke and Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Dover, Delaware; and Philadelphia.
At the same time, dangerous ice will unfold from Oklahoma to the Carolinas.
The battleground between snow totals in excess of six inches and the ice will be near the borders of Missouri and Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as across southern Virginia. A more northward trend to the storm would lead to more ice in these areas as the disruptive snow amounts shift to the I-70 corridor in the Ohio Valley.
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The snow from the central Plains to the mid-Atlantic will bring significant disruptions to travelers and commuters, both on the ground and in the air.
"As heavy snow stretches from St. Louis to Washington D.C., travel will become difficult Sunday night through Tuesday. Roads will become snow covered and slick quickly as the storm races east," AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg said.

Airline passengers should prepare for flight delays and cancellations, while residents will be faced with disruptions to daily routines. Schools could be shut down for Presidents' Day Monday in and around the Ohio and Tennessee valleys.
"Snow along the I-95 corridor from Richmond to Philadelphia will fall Monday night into Tuesday," Hoegg continued. "Motorists should give themselves extra time for their morning commute Tuesday as they head back to work following the holiday weekend."
After departing the southern mid-Atlantic, the snow will turn to the north and spread across New England's I-95 corridor on Tuesday.

The coverage and intensity of the snow in New England will depend on how close the winter storm tracks to the Northeast coast. If the storm tracks closer to the coast than expected, snow totals in excess of 3 to 6 inches will be more expansive.
Only if the storm remains on an eastward heading would New England escape more snow.
While New England should miss the worst of this snowstorm, any additional snow is the last thing snow-weary residents want to see.
Regardless of how the storm impacts New England, it will be followed by another shot of brutally cold air plunging across the eastern United States during the second half of this week.