Storms, cold air may bring snow to eastern US during second week of February

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

February 3,2016; 10:40PM,EST

 

 

There is a chance that multiple storms next week could sync with colder air that settles into the East to bring snow or a wintry mix to part of the region.
Following near-record warmth during the middle of this week, colder air will arrive in stages from the latter part of this week and into the second week of February.
Benign weather to start this weekend will become more extreme during next week and could feature a couple of storms that could have significant impact in part of the eastern United States.
The jet stream will take a large southward plunge into the Central states from late in the weekend to next week. This river of strong winds aloft will cause arctic air to pour southward over the Plains and Midwest.

According to AccuWeather Chief Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, the arctic air will not be in a hurry to push east of the Appalachians next week.
"The core of the cold air will stay over the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys," Pastelok said.
However, the pattern will help to set up a storm track from southwest to northeast along the Atlantic Seaboard next week. The air could be cold enough for wintry precipitation in some areas of the East by then.
High temperatures during the first few days of next week will range from the low 30s F in the mountains to the low to mid-40s along the Atlantic coast, with potential for high temperatures to fall into 30s along the Interstate-95 corridor.
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The first storm will make its run near the East Coast during Sunday into Monday.
Should the first storm track close to the coast, rain and/or wet snow could fall in the swath from the Carolinas and Virginia to southern New England with snow or a wintry mix farther north. Should the first storm swing well off the coast, then little or no precipitation would occur.
The latter scenario is most likely with the early week storm. Rain will skirt the coast from the Carolinas to southeastern Virginia on Sunday.
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity, "If that storm strengthens quickly enough and pulls cold air in at the last minute, then a change to wet snow could occur in the eastern parts of North and South Carolina during the Sunday storm."
A second storm could have significant wintry impact for the the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

By Tuesday, the air will likely be cold enough to support snow farther east, perhaps right to the Atlantic coast. However, how quickly that second storm forms will determine how much of the mid-Atlantic region receives accumulating snow.
The odds of accumulating snow and the potential for a significant snowstorm will increase farther north from the upper part of the mid-Atlantic to New England spanning Tuesday into early Wednesday.
The developing storm could bring snow for the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
"As with any pattern change, there is a period of uncertainty and the potential for swings in the forecast," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams said. "It is too early to make a call, one way or the other, until we gauge how the colder air and the two storms will interact with each other."
AccuWeather will continue to provide updates on the potential for storms and wintry precipitation in the Northeast in the coming days.
A few days of below-average temperatures are possible in the wake of the storms late next week.