Snow, wind to hamper travel over northern Plains early this week

By Alex Sosnowski , AccuWeather senior meteorologist

November 29,2016, 3:24:00PM,EST

 

 Snow, wind and cold air will expand over the northern Plains and will make for slippery travel during the first part of this week.

A large storm hovering over the Upper Midwest will funnel both moisture and air cold enough for snow across the northern Plains through Tuesday night.

While the snow will not be exceptionally heavy, an area of light to moderate snow will expand eastward and southward as the press of cold air becomes more extensive.
Snow will expand from the Dakotas to parts of northern Nebraska and western Minnesota during Tuesday.
The press of cold air and gusty winds will cause road surface temperatures to drop. As a result, some roads that were wet into Tuesday will become slippery and snow-covered by Tuesday night.

The strong winds will cause some blowing and drifting of snow, which can lead to sudden poor visibility.
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The storm will bring rounds of rain to areas from the Ohio Valley to part of the Great Lakes region.
By the middle of the week, snow showers will linger over the northern Plains and will extend to the western Great Lakes region. A few communities from eastern Minnesota to Wisconsin and Iowa could be hit with a snow shower that quickly coats roads.
Winds in parts of the High Plains from eastern Wyoming to western South Dakota and Nebraska can gust close to 60 mph by Tuesday. Elsewhere, gusts to 40 mph will be common from Kansas to North Dakota and Minnesota.
Temperatures over the northern Plains during much of this week will still average a few degrees Fahrenheit above normal. However, it will be a notable change from autumn temperatures, which were 8-12 degrees above average.

Looking ahead, indications are that cold air will hold on and strengthen over much of the western United States and be a frequent visitor to the North Central states during December," according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
In addition, more significant storms could track close enough to bring rounds of significant snow from parts of the central and northern Plains to perhaps the western Great Lakes region.
One such storm could become strong enough and track far enough to the north to bring snow to parts of the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest later this weekend into early next week.
Even if that storm fails to make the northward cut, additional significant storms originating from the Northwestern states and western Canada are possible, which could tap into the projected more seasonable air, Pastelok stated.
Temperature swings are likely to be become less extreme into early December from the eastern Great Lakes to the Ohio and middle Mississippi valleys. Instead, waves of progressively more chilly air will take hold as the month progresses.