A major storm will throw just about everything conceivable to the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US today including rain, damaging wind gusts, and the potential for accumulating heavy (wet) wind-whipped snow. The threat for power outages is high today and tonight given the expectation of 50-60 mph wind gusts and the saturated grounds from recent rains which tend to weaken the root support system. In addition, any heavy wet snow that does fall later today will increase the chances for power outages would as the snow would cling to tree limbs and weigh them down. As a result of intense high-latitude blocking to our north, this rapidly intensifying ocean storm will run into an “atmospheric brick wall” near Cape Cod, MA this morning and rather than taking the usual track for a nor’easter off to the east of Maine, it will be forced to the south. As it drops south, colder air will also plunge southward and so will the rain/snow line with the first area to go over to snow being upstate PA and southern NY. By later in the day, it very well should be snowing in NYC, Philly and throughout much of New Jersey and in all of these areas a few inches of wind-whipped heavy, wet snow is possible (i.e., blizzard-like conditions).
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A major storm will throw just about everything imaginable to the Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast US on Friday and Friday night with the potential for flooding rains, heavy wet wind-whipped snow, sleet and damaging wind gusts. The threat for widespread power outages exists on Friday and Friday night throughout the DC, Philly and NYC metro regions with 60+ mph wind gusts quite possible. This storm will have an impact on the I-95 corridor for an extended period of time due to very strong high-latitude blocking that has set up to our north. As a result, the storm will run into an “atmospheric brick wall” near Cape Cod, MA and rather than taking the usual track for a nor’easter off to the east of Maine, it will be forced to the south and, in turn, impact the weather around here all the way from later today into early Saturday.
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Very strong high-latitude blocking is now forming in the upper part of the atmosphere over Greenland and northern Canada and this feature will become a key factor in the unfolding weather scenario for the Mid-Atlantic region. A major ocean storm will form by later tomorrow and it will be a slow-mover as a result of the blocking pattern to the north; consequently, it’ll impact the region for an extended period of time. This powerful storm will initially generate rainfall for us, but then as rapid intensification unfolds and colder air gets drawn in, the potential exists for damaging winds and wind-whipped accumulating snow on Friday and Friday night. Power outages are a real concern given the expected extreme wind gusts (60 mph) and potential heavy, wet snow that may fall in some areas.
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Very strong high-latitude blocking is now forming in the upper part of the atmosphere over Greenland and northern Canada and this will become a key factor in the unfolding weather scenario for the Mid-Atlantic region. A major ocean storm will form by later Friday and it will become a slow-mover as a result of the blocking pattern to the north; consequently, it’ll impact the region for an extended period of time. This powerful storm will initially generate soaking rainfall for the DC-to-Philly-NYC corridor, but then as rapid intensification unfolds and colder air gets drawn in, the potential will exist for damaging winds and heavy, wet accumulating snow as we close out the work week.
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A strong low pressure system will head towards the Ohio Valley on Thursday, but eventually, it’ll take a back seat to the main player which will become a powerful ocean storm just off the Mid-Atlantic coastline. As a result of developing high-latitude blocking to our north, this storm will be a slow-mover and it is likely to bring rain and increasing winds to the local area from later Thursday into early Friday. As colder air wraps into the storm later Friday, there may be a changeover to snow and accumulations are possible later in the day and at night.
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The overall weather pattern across North America will soon feature strong high-latitude blocking over Greenland and northern Canada and this transition period in the atmosphere will result in a slow-moving and powerful storm over the western Atlantic Ocean by the end of the week. Strong low pressure will head towards the Ohio Valley on Thursday, but then it will become overshadowed by intensifying low pressure over the western Atlantic Ocean and it is this system which will run into a brick wall in the atmosphere as it tries to push to the north. As a result of the blocking pattern setting up in the atmosphere to our north, this strong ocean storm will be forced to the southeast - perhaps in a "looping" fashion - and this will prolong impacts from the immediate I-95 corridor to the coastline. Rain and wind will increase from later Thursday into Thursday night and, as colder air wraps into the system on Friday, there is the chance that some areas generally to the north of the PA/MD border see a mixing with or changeover to ice and/or snow before the precipitation winds down.
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A powerful ocean storm will form later this week as the overall weather pattern undergoes some significant changes across North America with strong high-latitude blocking setting up to our north. As a result of the developing high-latitude blocking, this storm will be a slow-mover and it is likely to bring soaking rain and increasing winds to the local area from later Thursday into Friday. As colder air wraps into the storm on Friday, there may be a changeover to snow before the system slowly pulls away to our southeast early this weekend. Higher elevation locations like the Catskills are quite likely to see some accumulating heavy, wet snow from this storm on Friday.
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High-latitude blocking refers to an atmospheric pattern in which higher heights (and pressure) compared to normal sets up in high latitude regions such as Greenland or northern Canada and it can remain in place for an extended period of time leading to a large-scale obstruction of surface weather systems. High-latitude blocking tends to be more likely during periods of low solar activity and that is certainly the case now as (weak) solar cycle 24 heads towards the next solar minimum. During the latter stages of winter, this type of setup can result in a persistent colder-than-normal weather pattern for the central and eastern US and perhaps stormy conditions as well. All signs point to a strong high-latitude blocking pattern to develop later this week across the North America side of the North Pole and this virtually ensures winter will not go down without a fight in March in the central and eastern US. This change in the overall pattern will also likely result in the generation of a powerful ocean storm late this week just off the Mid-Atlantic coastline and it will likely be a slow mover.
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High pressure will build into the region today and sunshine will finaly make a return following an extended cloudy and wet period. In fact, it’ll stay rather nice through mid-week with the mild conditions continuing along with some sunshine on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. A major change to the overall pattern occurs late this week and the result of this transition in the atmosphere will likely be a powerful storm just off the Mid-Atlantic coastline by week’s end. This strong system is likely to result in more soaking rainfall around here from Thursday into Friday and, as colder air wraps into the storm, perhaps even a changeover to snow or snow showers before it comes to an end.
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There has been a major stratospheric warming event over the past couple of weeks with a displacement of the polar vortex to lower latitudes and over the next several days a significant high-latitude blocking event will unfold leading to way above normal heights over places like Greenland and northeastern Canada. These large-scale atmospheric events are having an impact on weather patterns all across the Northern Hemisphere. They will be contributing factors to the extreme cold that is about to invade Europe from the east (Siberia) and to a cold pattern that looks like it will develop across much of the US during March which may feature a nor'easter during the transition period late next week.
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