Published: February 20,2015
Pandora will be a widespread winter storm, impacting parts of the South, Midwest and Northeast with snow and ice. In addition, Pandora will bring snow to the Rockies and the adjacent Front Range.
(MORE: Expert Analysis | Winter Storm Central)
Winter Storm Pandora was named by the winter storm naming committee at The Weather Channel on Thursday.
Freezing rain and sleet have already been reported from Pandora Friday, which created slippery conditions from Missouri to Alabama. Icy roads across parts of the South and Midwest are likely to continue into Saturday morning.
(MORE: Winter Storm Pandora Impacts | I-65 in Alabama a Mess
Forecast: Widespread Wintry Mess
The jet stream will send disturbances and moisture rippling into a record-setting February cold air mass in the South and East.We won't see an intense low-pressure system spin up with blizzard conditions and two-foot-plus snowfall, as we saw in some areas with Winter Storm Neptune.
However, a mess of snow, sleet and freezing rain will blanket a swath from the Rockies to parts of the East from Friday through the weekend, in somewhat similar fashion as Winter Storm Octavia.
In addition to the wintry weather threat, there may be some thunderstorms in parts of the south-central states Saturday from this system.
(MORE: Thunderstorm Forecast)
Here is the general outlook:
Friday Overnight:
- Mid-South/Tennessee Valley snow, sleet, freezing rain. Snow in Rockies, Front Range and Midwest.
- Cities to watch: Memphis | Nashville | Birmingham
- Snow in the Rockies and from the Midwest through the southern Great Lakes and into the Northeast
- Sleet/freezing rain possible south of that snow swath.
- Precipitation should change to rain in most of Friday's sleet/ice area.
- Cities to watch: St. Louis | Cleveland | Baltimore
- Snow, sleet and some freezing rain may persist in the Northeast and Appalachians. Precipitation may change to rain along a part of the I-95 corridor, however some recent computer model guidance has suggested that locations near or north of New York City could remain all snow. Snow continues along Front Range of central/southern Rockies.
- Cities to watch: Denver | Boston | NYC
How Much Snow and Ice?
It appears the best chance of at least 6 inches of snow through Sunday with this wintry mess will be in two general areas:- Eastern Ohio Valley, northern Appalachians into Upstate New York and northern New England
- Central and southern Rockies, Front Range, High Plains of Colorado and far northern New Mexico
Forecast ice accumulations at this time suggest slick roads (not just bridges and overpasses), perhaps some additional power outages are possible particularly Friday in the Mid-South and Tennessee Valley and Saturday in the central and southern Appalachians.
That said, as mentioned above, temperatures should warm enough Saturday to change precipitation to rain and melt any ice that had accumulated Friday in the Tennessee Valley and Mid-South region.
If that wasn't enough, with the cold air reinforced this weekend, and more upper-level energy lurking over the West, we can't rule out additional rounds of snow, sleet and freezing rain from the southern Plains into the Southeast early next week.
Also, there's a potential for another East Coast storm to bring more snow to snow-weary New England if the southern-branch jet stream is able to combine with another arctic front plowing southeast from the Great Lakes around the middle of next week.
(MORE: 10-Day Forecast Maps)
Check back with us at weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on these systems.
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