By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist
January 26,2016; 9:45PM,EST
There is great news for the snow-weary in the the wake of the Blizzard of 2016 as a storm over the Atlantic Ocean will bypass most of the eastern United States on Friday.
The latest indications are that while the storm will track northeastward on Friday it will do so a couple of hundred miles offshore. The storm will strengthen slowly enough so that heavy snow misses the mid-Atlantic and much of New England. However, a weaker storm will spread light snow across parts of the region.
Meanwhile, rounds of lake-effect snow will continue downwind of the Great Lakes as chilly air accompanies a weaker storm. In areas missed by the rounds of snow through late week will continue to deal with black ice following the Blizzard of 2016.
Weaker system should push bigger snowstorm out to sea
According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, an Alberta clipper system will be the driving force behind pushing the big storm out to sea.
An Alberta clipper is a storm system that originates from western Canada, near the province of Alberta. These fast-moving, often moisture-starved systems can bring light to moderate snow and rain.
"The clipper storm will sweep through with spotty light snow, flurries and rain showers in the Northeast on Friday," Abrams said.
Accumulating snow is neither likely in swath from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, nor in the suburbs and rural areas that surround the region on Friday.
A light to moderate snowfall is possible in parts of Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick later Friday into Saturday as the two systems slowly begin to merge.
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Only if the two storms rapidly merge would a large area of heavy snow and increasing wind be thrown westward across New England and part of the mid-Atlantic on Friday.
Heavy snow and wind are possible in Newfoundland during Friday night into Saturday.
Minor lake-effect snow events to create pockets of slippery travel
A couple of rounds of lake-effect snow will occur into the weekend.
The intensity of the bands of snow downwind of the Great Lakes will pale in comparison to events earlier during January.
Into Wednesday, up to a few inches of snow can fall where bands of snow persist from western and northern Michigan to western and northern New York state and northwestern Pennsylvania. Motorists should be especially careful on I-90 in New York and I-196 in southwestern Michigan.
During Friday into Saturday, the lake-effect snow will occur with marginal temperatures. Where the wet snow showers persist, a couple of inches can accumulate. This is possible over the high ground of western Pennsylvania and in parts of western and northern New York state.
Black ice danger to continue through the weekend in blizzard-ravaged areas
In the absence of additional significant snowfall, rounds of melting and freezing conditions will cause patchy black ice to form in areas hit by the Blizzard of 2016.
The icy patches will be most common over the countryside and in the suburbs but can also form in the most urban areas of the major cities.
Even as some waves of chilly air will flow into the Northeast through the weekend, temperatures in many areas will still reach or exceed the freezing mark during the daylight hours. Most locations will drop below freezing at night.
Runoff will be produced by the melting piles of snow and compacted snow and ice on side streets and parking lots during the midday and afternoon. The runoff can cause ice melting compounds to become dilute and lose effectiveness.
Motorists and pedestrians should be wary of surfaces that appear wet from the evening to the early daylight. A thin sheen of ice may be present.
Ice is more slippery at temperatures near freezing, compared to temperatures in the 20s or lower.
Louis Saccone ·
alberta Clipper does not push the storm out to sea it is the high pressure that pushes thestorm
Heather Moscaritolo ·
Pet Stylist at Petco
I
think it's funny that most of Connecticut got slammed by the storm and
where I live and work (winsted and torrington) we got a few flakes!
There is NO snow in winsted at all its so weird seeing grass at the end
of January.
Cory Morrison ·
Works at Fortinos
As
long as temperatures are above freezing for part of late week as
expected, the Toronto area should be spared big lake-effect snows,
hopefully.
DrSteve Godjas ·
"Ice
is more slippery at temperatures near freezing, compared to
temperatures in the 20s or lower." Ice is slippery...period! Duhhhhhh!
Donald Fry ·
No,
it really does matter what temperature it is. Under zero, the pressure
our car tires puts on the ice which makes a slight coat of liquid at
higher temperatures does not happen, because it is too cold. It is not
that slippery when it is much colder.
John Watson
What
is keeping the temperatures from rising past the 40s in the near
future? The arctic oscillation and NAO are expected to be significantly
more positive and there is an El Nino. This should have resulted in
upcomming temperatures being well above average.
Alex Sosnowski ·
Extensive snow cover.
Varmit Chaser
We need a drought in Florida. Have had water laying on top of the ground for a solid 3 weeks.
Timothy De Cerbo ·
Isn't that supposed to be normal? Most of the state is a swamp or at least was once.
Varmit Chaser
Timothy
De Cerbo Not in the winter. It is the beginning of our dry months.
January average 2 inches. Had 10 inches so far with another big storm
coming Wed. and Thursday.
Marty Bell ·
I
guess Accuweather had to change the headline from the gloom and doom of
suggesting another weekend snowstorm for the northeast when it was
very, very clear that just wasn't happening. Kudos for bowing out of
the nonsense and not continuing the hype.
Alex Sosnowski ·
No,
we were actually still concerned for the storm tracking farther west up
to this morning. Don't be surprised if the storm tracks farther west
than current computure models suggest, but we believe it will be far
enough east to call off the storm for most of the Northeast at this
time.
John Stow ·
"Gog out to sea?" Is that some new meteorological term or what?
Tony Kuderna ·
As it stand right now all the info the storm is gog out to sea.
Michael Croune ·
Alex, is the storm still heading north? Is enough cold air in place? Too soon to call?
Alex Sosnowski ·
The storm will affect areas in Atlantic Canada that were totally missed by the storm late last week.
Richard Thornton ·
Are
these stories planted by Accuweather, simply for enhance veiwership
totals? The temperatures listed for NJ are all above freezing with no
rain/snow; wy do the stories and the temperature predictions rarely
agree?
Michele Lloyd
Attribute
it to climate change ... after all, those nasty Eskimos hunting whales
way up in northwest were the catalyst for this latest snow storm...
Michael Croune ·
Richard,
a simple cold front would make for a snow event. If the warmer air does
not evolve and the storm position is westward, NJ would get snow.
Richard Thornton ·
Michael
Croune Then what you are really saying is the temperature pattern
predictions are bogus or at least only worth an R^2 of 10-25%
John Hummer ·
This
forecast is passe......as of late Monday 1-25-2015 most if not all
models are showing this sys. passing well off shore Atlantic SE which
mean little or no effects to mainland US. Includes the EU model
considered most reliable!
Brian Lantz
The rain isn't staying mainly in the plain. it's turned to snow and ... I think NY HAS GOT IT!
King Cobra
I
keep hearing about this big storm heading up the east coast that has
the potential to drop a foot of snow on new england come
friday/saturday.My question is how is that possible with temperatures in
the high forties and low fifties.
Michael Croune ·
The Temps will be dropping to 30.
King Cobra
neil
walsh love your style,theres little doubt your a man with class and
breeding.I think its just bad luck you live in that trailer with the one
light bulb flickering as your generator sputters along.one lucky break
though your phone service has not been shut off.....yet so your dial
up is working 5x5 so we can all enjoy your unique perspective on the
weather????????????
David Leach ·
All of the local guys in NH and Mass are calling Fridays storm as OUT TO SEA....as of 1-26..snow showers at best.
Peggy Gilligan ·
planning
on driving from northern California (Sacramento) to Chicago in the next
couple of weeks what can i expect as far as weather conditions??
Momohead Thompson ·
One can only hope! I love telling my office to "stick it!"
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