The latest winter storm continues to pound away at the Mid-Atlantic with lots of snow north of the Pennsylvania/Maryland border and lots of icing to the south of there. There have been intense snow bands in the region from southeastern Pennsylvania to central New Jersey during the past few hours resulting in a quick piling up of snow to as much as 8 inches in some spots. The precipitation will tend to slacken off this afternoon, but this latest winter storm will turn into another relatively long duration event with redevelopment of the precipitation by tonight and there can be some impacts into the latter part of the day on Friday.
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Snow broke out early today and quickly mixed with sleet and icing will be the main problem for the rest of the day. A combination of sleet and freezing rain will produce an icy buildup and travel conditions will be dangerous in many areas as temperatures remain at or below the freezing mark. This will turn out to be a rather long duration event with a wintry mix possible tonight and into the day on Friday at varying rates of intensity. Snow accumulations will be limited to a coating to a couple of inches in the DC metro region due to the quick mixing, but there will be higher amounts in the far northern and western suburbs - and all areas experience an icy buildup.
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A significant winter storm will impact the Mid-Atlantic region on Thursday and Thursday night and it is likely to develop into a rather long duration event and last well into the day on Friday. Snow should break out early tomorrow morning in the DC and Philly metro areas and by the late morning hours in New York City. The snow can come down hard for a few hours beginning shortly after its arrival time in the I-95 corridor. The precipitation may slacken off for a brief time later tomorrow into early tomorrow night, but more precipitation will re-develop tomorrow night likely as a wintry mix and this can change back to all snow on Friday.
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Attention now turns to the next storm system and this one is likely to generate significant accumulating snow in the DC metro region and some ice as well. Snow likely breaks out early tomorrow during the 3-7AM time period and it can come down hard for awhile before mixing with or changing to sleet later in the day. Accumulations of 3-6 are likely before any changeover to sleet and there can be isolated higher amounts. Sleet or a mix of sleet and snow will continue tomorrow night and there can even be occasional snow, sleet and/or rain well into the day on Friday as this will likely turn out to be a long duration event. This low pressure system will take a track farther to the east compared to Monday’s storm and this track will help to keep a cold air mass in place with temperatures generally at or below the freezing mark.
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With the passage of one storm system in the overnight hours, attention to those in the Mid-Atlantic region will now turn to the next storm system and this one is likely to generate significant snow and/or ice for the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor with several inches on the table. The next storm will take a track farther to the east compared to last night’s system and this will help to keep in place a cold air mass that arrives in the overnight hours. This cold air mass will be anchored by strong high pressure to the north and low-level temperatures are likely to remain at or below freezing during much of the upcoming event in the immediate I-95 corridor – virtually assuring a buildup of snow and/or ice.
Elsewhere, historic and dangerous cold continues today across much of the central US. Several sites have set their all-time low temperature records and many others have experienced their lowest temperatures ever recorded in the month of February. In addition to the extreme cold, snow and ice has accumulated all the way down to the Gulf coastal region of Texas. In fact, nearly three-quarters of the US is now covered by snow which is the highest amount ever recorded since this kind of data began to be collected in 2003.
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One storm system will push away today and attention will turn to another system that will impact the region from late Wednesday night into early Friday. High pressure will build over New England on Wednesday and act as an anchor for a cold air mass in the Mid-Atlantic region. As a result, the chance of accumulating snow at the onset of the next storm system will be quite high in the DC metro region from late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. The snow is likely to mix with or change to sleet later in the day on Thursday and to sleet and/or freezing rain at night with some ice buildup possible on any already accumulated snowfall. Stay tuned…something to closely monitor next couple of days.
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Historic cold has gripped much of the central/southern US today with many locations experiencing their all-time lowest temperatures and many other sites breaking their monthly (February) low temperature records. In addition, snow and ice has fallen in unusual places today all the way down to the Gulf coastal regions of Texas and Louisiana. The storm responsible for the snow and ice in the Deep South will now head towards the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys and bring a swath of accumulating snow and significant ice along its path.
As this storm heads well to the north and west of the Mid-Atlantic I-95 corridor, enough warmer air should move in to generate primarily a plain rain event later today and tonight for the metro regions with icing confined to the far northern and western suburbs. A second storm later in the week will have more cold air ahead of it than this initial system and this could result in a period of accumulating snow at the onset late Wednesday night/early Thursday before a likely changeover to a wintry mix.
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A very active weather pattern will continue this week with two separate storms to deal with in the Mid-Atlantic region. The first system will pull out of the southern states later today and push a lot of moisture into the region and rain will be the dominant precipitation type. There can be some icing early tonight in some of the far northwestern suburbs (e.g., Gaithersburg, MD), but for the most part, the DC metro region will be above freezing during this event. A second storm later this week will have more cold air out ahead of it than the initial system; consequently, there can be a period of accumulating snow and sleet late Wednesday night/early Thursday before an eventual changeover to freezing rain/rain.
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Arctic air has gripped much of the northern and central US in recent days and it is plunging later this weekend to Texas and Oklahoma where the cold may be historic with all-time low temperature records likely being challenged in some spots. The longevity of this on-going cold wave across the northern and central US has been rather amazing with many areas experiencing bitter cold conditions for numerous days. In addition to the widespread and extreme cold, significant snow has accumulated in some regions including the Pacific Northwest (e.g., Seattle, Portland) and it is now moving into the Rocky Mountain States. Later in the weekend, this snow will spread into the far southern states of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas and ice will become a problem all the way down to the Gulf coast of Texas. Ice has already become a major headache today across parts of the Mid-Atlantic region including the DC metro region where several accidents have been reported and a significant ice buildup is underway. Unfortunately, a change in the upper part of the atmosphere will likely result in additional icing events in coming days across much of the nation.
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The overall weather pattern remains quite active as we end the work week and it will remain so right through next week. The pattern is also evolving into one that increases the chances of icing (sleet, freezing rain) in the Mid-Atlantic region. In fact, significant icing is possible this weekend as the next system brings some moisture into the area with low-level cold remaining air in place. In addition, there will likely be two significant storm systems to deal with next week and there is the potential for some icing during both events in at least parts of the Mid-Atlantic region.
Elsewhere, an Arctic plunge later this weekend will result in historic cold for the southern Plains with many low temperature records to be broken across Texas and Oklahoma and they’ll have to contend with snow and ice as well. In fact, there are some spots in the southern Plains that will approach or even break their all-time low temperature records during this blast of Arctic air. The longevity of this on-going cold wave across the northern and central US has been quite amazing.
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