Winter Storm Sparta: Snow, Ice In the Plains, Midwest, Northeast and West (FORECAST)

Jon Erdman
Published: February 27,2015




 

March may arrive Sunday, but Winter Storm Sparta is poised to bring an expansive stripe of snow and some freezing rain through the weekend in parts of the Plains, Midwest and Northeast.

Jet Stream Setup This Weekend

Current Radar

Saturday's Forecast

Sunday's Forecast

48-Hour Snowfall Forecast

(MORE: Expert Analysis | Winter Storm Central)

Southern Plains Friday

One upper-level impulse associated with a developing southward dip in the jet stream is spreading snow into some of the same parts of north Texas and southern Oklahoma, which were just blanketed by both Winter Storms Quantum and Remus.
A fairly strong surface high pressure will still be in place over the mid-Mississippi Valley Friday morning, which means there won't be an infusion of Gulf of Mexico moisture.
That said, we expect an inch of two of fluffy snow Friday in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, northward into Oklahoma.
(MORE: Is Southern Snow Unusual?)
Somewhat higher totals of fluffy snow are expected to the west over the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, as well as eastern New Mexico. Expect hazardous travel as pavement temperatures cooled by this week's wintry weather will allow accumulations to occur quickly, rather than melt.
(FORECASTS: Amarillo | Lubbock)
If that wasn't enough, some freezing drizzle is expected Friday night across southern Oklahoma and north Texas, making roads, especially bridges and overpasses even more hazardous by Saturday morning.

Weekend Mess

The jet stream will send a series of disturbances rippling over the battleground between arctic cold and warmer air trying to push north. The first of these, Winter Storm Sparta, will spread a wintry mess through the Plains, Midwest and Northeast this weekend.
The maps show our current forecasts for Saturday and Sunday. It should be noted that we expect the majority of precipitation to push through the I-95 Northeast corridor later Sunday into Sunday night.
Here is the general flavor of this weekend's mess.
Snow: 
- A stripe of moderate to locally heavy snow from the central Plains to the mid-Mississippi Valley, southern Great Lakes and interior Northeast.
- CITIES: Kansas City | Chicago | Pittsburgh | Boston
Sleet/ice
- To the south of that stripe of snow, some sleet and/or freezing rain is possible from the central and southern Plains into the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic states.
- This does not appear to be a major ice storm. Instead, impacts mainly look to be slick roads, especially bridges and overpasses, with perhaps some sporadic power outages in the extreme.
- CITIES: Wichita | Louisville | Philadelphia
If that wasn't enough, the snowy, icy beat continues into next week, as more jet-stream energy nosedives into California, and yet another wintry mess takes shape in parts of the Plains, Midwest and East Tuesday into Wednesday.
(MAPS: 10-day Forecast)
Check back with us at weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on this wintry mess.

MORE: Winter Storm Remus Photos