****March Madness...record-warmth...severe weather threat...accumulating snow likely on Thursday in the Mid-Atlantic ...late weekend Great Lakes blizzard...widespread cold air outbreak next week****

March 11, 2026Paul Dorian

March is known for some wild swings in the weather, and this one looks like it will not disappoint. Temperatures peaked at record-breaking levels on Tuesday in the Mid-Atlantic region and included the earliest observation of 80 degrees in New York City’s Central Park. Severe weather broke out on Tuesday afternoon and evening across the Upper Midwest with tornadoes reported across parts of Illinois and Indiana and severe thunderstorms will be possible today from the Mid-Atlantic region and Ohio Valley to the Lower Mississippi Valley and again tornadoes will be on the table. A strong cold front pushes through the Mid-Atlantic region early Thursday and there is the chance that rain can mix with or change to snow in parts of the area by the late morning or midday hours following right on the heels of the record-breaking warmth…small accumulations of a coating to an inch or two cannot be ruled out.

Over the weekend, another strong cold front will enter the picture across the nation’s midsection with a widespread colder-than-normal air mass on its backside and charging to the south and east. A strong storm system is likely to form along the frontal boundary zone as upper-level support arrives, and the Great Lakes may end up with an all-out blizzard come late Sunday into Monday with plenty of snow and powerful winds. In fact, there can be accumulating snow and strong winds in this same Great Lakes region on Friday from a clipper-system and this would just be an appetizer for the potential late weekend blizzard. The widespread colder-than-normal air mass reaches the eastern states by late Monday and the 20’s and 30’s will be commonplace in the Mid-Atlantic region by the time we get to next Tuesday for afternoon highs...a far cry from the past couple of days. Looking ahead, as is often the case during the month of March, the early-to-mid week cold snap in the eastern states may change dramatically to much milder conditions by the end of next week and yes, this wild weather pattern can flip again with yet another widespread cold air outbreak later in the month.

***Significant severe weather threat next couple of days associated with powerful cold front...southern Plains to Upper Midwest later today...Lower MS Valley to Mid-Atlantic later tomorrow***

March 10, 2026Paul Dorian

A significant severe weather threat exists for later today and tonight in the region from the southern Plains to the Upper Midwest and this risk which includes possible tornadoes will shift east later tomorrow to an area that extends from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic region. Numerous ingredients are coming together for this severe weather threat including a powerful surface cold front, warm and humid air in place, waves of energy aloft in both the northern and southern jet streams, and an incoming colder-than-normal air mass. After possible record-breaking warmth during the next two days in the Mid-Atlantic region, it’ll turn much cooler for Thursday and Friday following the passage of the strong cold front, and a widespread colder-than-normal air mass will push into the eastern states early next week.