By Jillian MacMath, AccuWeather staff writer
February 21,2017, 11:46:23AM,EST
In line with Punxsutawney Phil’s 2017 prognostication, forecasters are predicting winter weather will linger into spring across much of the United States.
From coast to coast, cold air will maintain its grip across the northern tier of the country. Meanwhile, rain, thunderstorms and severe weather will threaten to kick off farther south, leading to a volatile season for many.
Warmup may be delayed across the Northeast, Midwest
Spring will start off on a wet note for the I-95 corridor, including Boston, New York City and Philadelphia.
Rain and snow will fall through mid-March in most of the Northeast, holding back temperatures.
“As far as a significant warmup goes in the Northeast, I think you have to hold off until late April and May,” AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said.
Though the forecast aligns with Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction, it’s not all bad news for those eager to leave winter behind. The warmup should arrive faster than in the past couple of years, Pastelok said.
Chilly air will also stretch westward into the Midwest.
“It seems like all the cold and all the snow has been really piling up across that area and it’s going to be no different going into the early spring,” he said.
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With a significant snowpack remaining, it’s difficult to judge when the cold air will retreat.
“North and west [of Chicago] is going to be delayed because of the amount of snowpack. It will be running behind schedule, no doubt in my mind. I just don’t know how far behind at this point.”
Showers and thunderstorms to dominate springtime in Southeast
Showers and thunderstorms will dominate the springtime weather pattern across the southeastern United States.
While the rain will be largely beneficial, too much in February and March could make it tough for farmers to get into fields early on.
Florida may mark the only exception.
“Florida is a tricky spot, especially the central and southern part of the peninsula,” Pastelok said.
Frequent thunderstorms and significant rainfall may dodge areas from Orlando down to Miami and Fort Myers.
Explosive severe weather to threaten the Plains
The Plains states may be in for an active severe weather season, thanks in part to winter’s lingering pattern.
A northern jet stream which brings cold air to the upper levels of the atmosphere may be slow to retreat, according to Pastelok.
“If it’s slow to move out, which is typical of a weak La Niña season, you’re going to get more explosive systems, more severe weather and that’s a good possibility in the southern Plains this year,” Pastelok said.
The active weather could kick off as early as March, so residents will want to be prepared.
In the northern Plains, flooding will be of concern.
“Fast, rapid warmups cause more river flooding in the northern Plains states. We’re not expecting that right now, but we do have a lot of water that’s just waiting to come down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers,” he said.
Rain, storms to continue across Northwest, northern California
Wintry conditions will continue across the northwestern U.S in March with rain and snow frequenting the region.
Some of this precipitation will also reach down into northern California.
Following a winter in which Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno and Sacramento, California, each doubled their city’s normal seasonal rainfall total, spring flooding cannot be ruled out.
“Getting farther south from Fresno to Bakersfield, that area still may deal with some minor drought conditions but it’s improved dramatically,” Pastelok said.
Southwest to warm up quickly as dry weather dominates
The Southwest will be much less active than its northern counterpart.
High pressure will allow drier- and warmer-than-normal conditions to dominate from southern California to central Texas.
“It’s not going to take too long to get those temperatures to bounce in the Southwest,” Pastelok said.
Gary Cornell ·
Its a white wash and just based on historical averages, no real forecasting involved whatsoever.
"Winter won't quit in Northeast" - What winter are they talking about? Dont you have to have something to be able to hold on to it. Winter never came here in the Northeast except for maybe Maine. Meteorologists are the biggest laughs in the science field, no facts, no theory just maybes and mights.
"Winter won't quit in Northeast" - What winter are they talking about? Dont you have to have something to be able to hold on to it. Winter never came here in the Northeast except for maybe Maine. Meteorologists are the biggest laughs in the science field, no facts, no theory just maybes and mights.
George Hopper ·
The weathermen can't even forecast 48 hours accurately! Give me a break!
Bill Belanger ·
i have more faith in a wood chuck than an egg head
Mike Gebhard
70 deg this week is pretty dang warm. Id say winter has quit - at least this week anyway.
Brandon Streitenberger
Where's
that blizzard in Ohio you predicted a couple of weeks ago? I have zero
faith in long range forecasts other than the fact that we have a
warming planet.
Sharlene Baker ·
Cincinnati OH area here & we have spring flowers here a lot of rain still but were looking at almost 70 for next 3 days
Joyce Kinsey
Why
complain about snow? It's a normal part of winter. My cross
country skis sit in my basement, unused all winter! All I have to
ènjoy is the sight of brown grass. Ugh!
Aaron Joel Dekker ·
I just got some skis, then the weather warmed up 
:(. Cosmic sick joke.
:(. Cosmic sick joke.
Paul Berger ·
In
general this has not been a cold winter as compared to average. Here in
NYC we have only four mornings where the low temperature was below 20
degrees. January was several degrees above normal and I would say this
February is at least around normal. We have had 20 inches of snow which
is a tad above normal for the date but only one significant storm. And
it looks like after tomorrow we will be above normal for a while - way
above normal on Sunday and Monday as a matter of fact.
Bad Driving In Chicagoland
I'm
going to take this with a grain of salt. The winter 2016-17 outlook
said it was going to be colder and snowier than normal for the Chicago
area. Yet so far since the Winter solstice we haven't even seen more
than an inch of snow and temps are forecasted to be in the 60s this
weekend into early next week.
Paul Huffman ·
Temps
in Iowa have been 15-30 degrees above normal all winter since
Christmas, instead of snowfalls, we had rainfall instead, forecast temps
in the 60s this weekend with night time lows in upper 40s. Think we are
already having spring.
David Gerard Turco ·
Typical
spring forecast for New England, it's always cold and windy here then.
But the seasons have shifted for sure. Warmer late fall to early
winter. Traditionally January was always the coldest and Feb the
snowiest but warming up and March was the start of spring. Now Febuary
is coldest and the snows go throught March into early April every year
and spring starts basically May 1, and that is southern New England.
Mark Linder
Whiting
Maine here. Foot on the ground already two more feet expected before
storm ends Tuesday. New storm predicted for mid week next.
Billy Sammons ·
This
is a typical unprofessional prediction. It was 50 degrees today in
west central Iowa and we have had only two or three weak snow events so
far this winter. If you look at the accuweather forecast for the next
couple of months we can expect above-average temps with below average
precipitation. This guy Pastelok is way off the mark and should
re-assess his long term forecasts.
Sheryl Klein Marshall
chicago area temps way above normal for next 10 days. no precip!?
Leslye Klinger ·
I'm
in Milwaukee, WI. What snow pack to delay Spring? No snow to be
found! 40's today and tomorrow with possible 50's by the end of the
week.
Gene Bartkowski ·
Lake Erie is only lightly frozen so we im Buffalo will have an early effective Spring!
Qingyu Lu ·
I like snow day
Pete VonStettina ·
What's
the point of handing everyone in the northeast a mouthful of bad news
like winter is going to hang in there a whole lot longer than usual? Is
that just to irritate everyone into buying more snow shovels? Once April
gets here you're going to see the snow gone. Regardless of how much the
cold air wants to stick around like an unwanted houseguest the sun
having its more direct influence will see to it that Spring IN
FACT......will arrive safe and sound. Bye bye snow and ice!!
Brian St Onge ·
Works at Happily Retired
I'm with you! Spring will be here and this frozen stuff will disappear! And it can't happen fast enough.
Ramona Anderson Warner ·
I am just anxious to wash and wax my cars!!
Jim Yates ·
I
get a laugh they try and predict 2 months ahead when they cant even get
it right one day ahead 90 percent of the time. Weather is gonna do
what it does and change one day to the next.. How can anyone take this
seriously.. just llook at a one week prediction for you area wiret it
down, then then write down what the weather was actually that week..
way more than a 50 50 chance the 5 day was wrong, the only thing they do
fairly well is on the bigger storms and hurricanes more than 2 days in
advance.. yet were having a storm now they didnt predict untill a few
days ago, so I am suposed to think tehy can predict whats its gonn be
like in April?
Kristy McCallister ·
Nothing
was said, or ever is, about Arkansas I do see on the map to expect
rain, which I hate, but I wish I knew when something good, like warmth
was coming to AR. Even SW MO would be close enough!
Amber Timmons ·
I
hear you on that!! I'm in western Ohio and we get lumped into the NE
and/or the Midwest/Plains. None of which ends up applying to US! Lol
Richard Thornton ·
These
types of stories about how "winter won't quit" are posted every year by
Accuweather. Newsflash: Winter will end in exactly 5 weeks. I've
never lived a year yet, that by sometime in mid April, its not at least
70 degrees somewhere, north of Delaware. So how abouit this headlne:
Winter will end in 35 days and warm weather will occur guaranteed within
60 days. Enough with the nonsense weather spinning.
Virginia Schenck
Feb 12: here in sw MN we have only traces of snow left. It rained last night.
Tyler Lavigne
your a lucky SOB!! We JUST got a severe warning because were getting KNOCKED with 16 inches of snow as we speak!!!! http://www.google.org/publicalerts/alert...
Angie Austin Manges ·
Funny how every "area" is mentioned in this article but the Midwest. But what's new???�
Barry Nicely ·
That's why we have the Electoral College.
Joel Robert ·
Lingering snow pack in the Midwest? We haven't had a snock pack in Michigan all winter.
Angie Austin Manges ·
They don't follow or give predictions for the Midwest. I guess we don't exist lol...
Brian C. Olsen ·
The temps in the Upper Midwest always track lower than the "averages" for Feb, March, and April. No surprise there.
Michael Pannoni
Despite
the map, winter's basically over south of the Mason-Dixon line
(including Maryland and most of West Virginia and Delaware, where it
never really got much of a winter anyways). Baltimore got just a trace
of snow from the last storm, and despite a story about the possibility
of more snow in mid-February and a few cold days here and there, it
seems like the pattern doesn't favor much of a chance for a late vortex
push, and the "cold shots" have really been just near or slightly below
normal. I also think the precip forecast for the southeast is a bit
overdone, as we're currently in a neutral ENSO state and normal
precipitation is more likely, with some rain from storms originating
from the West and the typical Gulf storms, but plenty of nice spring
days mixed in as well. The later part of President's Day weekend could
be quite mild.
Tyler Lavigne
i would think the college dr degreed weather people are more reliable then your opinion?? just sayin
Except
the snowpack in Green Bay, WI ISN'T that deep and we're expecting highs
10 to 15 degrees above average this weekend, and maybe next weekend as
well. As always, it will depend on the storm track. We've gotten a lot
of panhandle hooks so far and handful have gone far enough north so that
we get rain instead of snow. If that continues, it'll break 60 here in
March again.
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