Two More Potential Northeast Snowmakers Ahead Through Valentine's Day Weekend

Jon Erdman
Published: February 9,2015



 
A two-plus week snow siege is setting records in parts of New England, including Boston, Worcester, Massachusetts and Bangor, Maine.
(MORE: Marcus Sets All-Time Snow Records | Hundreds of Schools Close)
Surely, this can't keep up much longer, can it? Well, in the immortal words of the late actor Leslie Nielsen in the 1980 movie Airplane, "I am serious ... and don't call me Shirley."
Not one, but two potential snowstorms loom through the weekend. Here are details on each of them.
(MORE: Expert Analysis | Winter Storm Central)

System #1: Late Wednesday-Early Friday

A powerful arctic cold front plunging out of the Canadian prairies and its igorous jet stream disturbance will set the stage for more snow later this week.
(FORECAST: Coldest Air This Winter Ahead)
Given the system's trajectory, it will be somewhat moisture-starved initially, spreading light to locally moderate snow through parts of the Great Lakes Wednesday and Northeast Thursday.
Thursday night into Friday, it gets really interesting.
Low pressure will intensify off the coast of southeast New England then head northeast toward Nova Scotia. As always, the question is how close to New England the intensifying low tracks.
A track near the so-called "40/70 benchmark" (a meteorologist's rule-of-thumb: Many major Northeast snowstorms track near 40 degrees north latitude and 70 degrees west longitude, about 90 miles south of Nantucket Island) would bring yet another threat of heavy snow and strong winds to at least coastal New England Thursday night into Friday.
(FORECASTS: Boston | Providence | NYC)
Check back with us at weather.com to monitor the forecast trend.
Strong winds behind the arctic front and developing offshore low may produce areas of blowing and drifting snow, given the heavy snowpack in place over New England and parts of Upstate New York, particularly in rural areas.
This isn't the only future snowmaker to watch.

System #2: Valentine's Day Weekend

Only those in the Northeast who love snow and bitter cold will be pleased with Valentine's Day weekend 2015 weather: another arctic cold front, another stripe of snow, another offshore low to monitor.
Rinse and repeat, right?
Yes, another arctic front will spread a stripe of mainly light snow from the Great Lakes on Friday into the East on Saturday.
Then, low pressure may wrap up again off the Eastern seaboard Saturday night into Sunday.
You probably know the drill by now: If the offshore low tracks closer to the Northeast seaboard (the benchmark above), heavier, wind-driven snow may fall later Saturday into Sunday in the Northeast and New England. If the low intensifies far enough offshore, most of the significant snow will remain offshore.
(MAPS: Ten-Day Forecast)
Regardless where the low tracks, behind the arctic front and intensifying offshore low -- you guessed it -- bitterly cold air will settle in, driven by strong winds, leading to dangerous wind chills. Temperatures may remain stuck in the single digits or, at best, teens much of Sunday in New England, with morning lows in the single digits above or below zero.
(FORECAST: Coldest Air This Winter Ahead)
Keep all this in mind if you have a Valentine's night plans, or are simply trying to clear snow from your driveway or sidewalk in the Northeast this weekend.
Again, check back with us at weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on both of these systems.

MORE: Winter Storm Marcus Photos