Two winter storms will bring snow, freezing rain and arctic cold in a one-two punch to parts of the U.S. this week.
Some 29 million people were under winter alerts across the central Plains, Midwest, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic Monday morning ahead of two winter storms expected this week.
The first storm will take shape across the Central Plains with rain and light icing across Oklahoma and Arkansas. Come Tuesday, the storm will produce moderate snow from Kentucky to Maryland.
The Mid-Atlantic will feel the biggest snow totals with 3 to 6 inches possible. Locally higher amounts of up to 8 inches can’t be ruled out. Washington D.C. and Baltimore are forecast to pick up 4 to 6 inches of snow with a glaze of ice, Philadelphia could see 2 to 3 inches and New York City around 1 inch.
The southern side of the storm system will see heavy rain possible Tuesday and Wednesday across the South. There, 1 to 3 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts, is possible through Thursday.
The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center has issued a slight risk of excessive rainfall over parts of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley from Tuesday into Wednesday morning due to possible localized flooding. Cities to watch for possible urban flooding include Shreveport, Jackson, Birmingham, Atlanta, Knoxville and Asheville.
The storm will also see arctic cold air bring temperatures 25 to 40 degrees below average across the Northern Rockies and Northern High Plains.
The National Weather Service Office in Boulder, Colorado said “the main chunk of arctic air” arrives Wednesday, and will leave Meanwhile, the National Weather Service Office in Bismarck, North Dakota, said are forecast Monday night into Tuesday morning.
The second storm will start with light snow Tuesday night across Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas. By Wednesday, it’ll produce moderate to heavy snow from Kansas to Michigan, with accumulating snow possible for the major metro areas of Kansas City, Des Moines, Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit.
In Chicago, the heaviest snow is forecast to fall during the Wednesday evening commute. While it’s too soon to predict how much snow will fall in the Windy City, “comparing the four models, we get anywhere between four and eight inches of snow,” said.
On Thursday the storm will exit into Canada, bringing snow to northern New England and rain to the I-95 corridor from Boston to Raleigh.
Some strong to severe storms will also be possible along the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama, southern Georgia and coastal South Carolina on Thursday.
A wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain could lead to ice accumulation of 1/10 of an inch Monday evening into Wednesday in central/eastern Oklahoma into the Ozarks, according to the National Weather Service’s morning advisory.
The weather service warned that travel will become extremely hazardous especially during the Tuesday evening commute due to freezing rain as a winter storm spreads across the Central Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic states Tuesday through Wednesday.
The one-two punch comes as much of the country is digging out from a
The weekend’s weather saw much of the Northeast blanketed in white. New York City’s Central Park was covered in a dusting of fresh powder, as was Boston’s skyline where Boston Logan International Airport logged 5.5 inches of snow in 24 hours by Sunday evening.
The weather also led to travel woes — including crashes on icy roads in multiple states as well as over 3,000 domestic flight delays on Sunday, according to the travel tracker .
