Massive winter storm to unload snow from Illinois to Maine
Heavy snowfall with accumulations of 6-12 inches will spread across a 1,100-mile-long corridor of the nation, leading to widespread travel disruptions.
Snow shovels and snow blowers will be needed around cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Boston.
A dynamic cross-country storm has unleashed a slew of problems as it sweeps from the South Central states to the Midwest late this week. A long zone of snow has developed along its northern edge and spread from the mid-Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes and will soon reach into northern New York state and New England, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. Travel disruptions are likely to mount, as snowfall totals of 6-12 inches are expected along a 1,100-mile-long corridor of the United States, and a major multiday severe weather outbreak will be underway to the south of the storm’s path.
Already in portions of the Midwest, substantial snow totals have been reported. While much of the Chicago area narrowly missed the corridor of accumulating snow, the city's southern and eastern suburbs picked up a general 2 to 6 inches of wet snow. Farther east, into northeast Indiana and the southern half of Michigan, between 6 and 11 inches of snow fell, much of it in just a few hours. The snow led to numerous flight delays and cancellations in Detroit, and airport issues are also expected in cities such as Albany and Boston.
Flight delays from drenching rain and poor visibility are also likely farther to the south in the major hubs of St. Louis and Pittsburgh, as well as New York City and Philadelphia. Ripple-effect delays will likely occur throughout the nation as the storm affects crews and planes.
“The storm will hit the nation’s airline travel hard because some of the major hubs in the Midwest and Northeast are involved,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dean DeVore said, adding that an increased volume of travelers due to spring break will only complicate matters.
"There will be a sharp gradient for snowfall in many of the major metro areas from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast," DeVore said. "This is mainly due to a prominent wedge of warm air near and just south of the storm, but also dry air to the north of the system."
In Chicago, that gradient has already made itself quite apparent.
"While downtown Chicago only received flurries that didn't accumulate from this storm, places just 20 or 30 miles to the south saw several hours of heavy snow and near whiteout conditions. A similar gradient is likely in other areas on the edges of the storm as well," AccuWeather meteorologist Andrew Johnson-Levine explained.
Midwest to bear brunt of storm into Friday night
The storm will encounter progressively colder air as it pushes to the north, allowing snow to break out instead of rain. Rain transitioned to snow in central Missouri, northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana Friday. The band of accumulating snow is likely to be narrow west of Michigan and may only be a few dozen miles wide.
A mixture of wet snow and rain will fall around Chicago into Friday evening. Within the heaviest snow band likely to be over nearby northwestern Indiana to perhaps within a few dozen miles of Detroit, snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour are likely in a narrow swath. Road conditions will rapidly deteriorate soon after the heavy snow moves in.
AccuWeather forecasters say that conditions will vary drastically over short distances due to warm air causing precipitation to fall as rain in some Chicago neighborhoods during much of the storm. To the northwest of the city, too much dry air will be in place for precipitation to develop.
A similar setup will also unfold farther to the east as moisture reaches the Detroit metro area.
"Detroit is most likely going to pick up 3-6 inches of snow with 6-10 inches [accumulating] not too far to the north and west," DeVore said. "While parts of central Michigan receive a foot of snow, areas downriver may pick up only a couple of inches of snow and slush with a change to drenching rain into Friday night."
Areas of heavy rain, locally dense fog and even severe thunderstorms will pose the main travel troubles in portions of the Interstate 64 and 70 corridors of the Midwest and even as far north as I-80 in Ohio Friday. However, a stretch of I-80 in northern Indiana can become quickly clogged with snow. Interstates 94 and 96 in Michigan could be strewn with stalled vehicles as heavy snow buries the region.
Rain is likely to pour down at such a fast pace that it will lead to poor drainage area flooding and raise the risk of vehicles hydroplaning on the highways.
Perhaps just as disruptive as snow and heavy rain will be a vast area of high winds south of the storm over portions of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys to the southern Appalachians. Gusts approaching and exceeding hurricane force (74 mph or greater) are in store into Friday night. Scores of power outages are likely and many secondary roads may be blocked by fallen trees. As of mid-afternoon on Friday, close to 770,000 utility customers were without power in the South-Central and Southeastern states, according to poweroutage.us.
Secondary storm to develop off Northeast coast
The situation will be more complex in the Northeast. As the storm pushes toward the Great Lakes and weakens into Friday night, a secondary storm will take shape along the mid-Atlantic coast. That secondary storm will become the more dominant of the two as it picks up steam Saturday.
A much more broad area of snow and sleet will develop in the Northeast, compared to much of the Midwest.
The heaviest snow will spread across central and northern New York state. Snowfall accumulations will range from a few inches to a foot or more from Friday afternoon to early Saturday.
Farther south, a brief period of snow, sleet and even freezing rain will create messy travel conditions for at time across the central Appalachians Friday. Precipitation will change over to rain and drizzle later Friday and Friday night. On top of rain, fog may develop and slow travel on the highways and lead to flight delays.
Conditions will vary widely across New England.
“The dividing line between rain and snow will set up near the downtown area of Boston, so 2-4 inches of snow and slush are likely before a changeover to rain,” DeVore said. “Areas north and west of the city center could ramp up and get to 4-8 inches of snow with areas beyond Interstate 495 potentially seeing even bigger amounts.”
Should the coastal storm ramp up quickly and move slowly away, snow on the back side of the system could linger into Saturday night, with an additional accumulation around Boston.
If the coastal storm develops to its full potential, parts of central and northern New England may pick up 1-2 feet of snow with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 28 inches most likely to occur over the ridges and peaks.
"The storm from Friday to Saturday looks much less snowy than the storm that brought New York City its biggest snowfall of the year," DeVore said. The storm from Monday night into Tuesday dropped 1.8 inches of snow on Central Park, but amounts of up to 6 inches were reported in the Bronx.
A quick change to rain later Friday or Friday evening should limit the amount of snow to no more than a slushy coating around much of New York City. DeVore pointed out that the rain is likely to be heavy at times from Friday night to Saturday morning in the Big Apple.
While portions of I-80 from New Jersey through much of Pennsylvania may be slushy and slippery for a time Friday afternoon and evening due to a quick burst of snow and sleet, the combination of rain, a low cloud ceiling and fog can lead to slow travel on the roads and airline delays along the I-95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia and New York City early this weekend.
Travel conditions will improve from west to east across the Midwest and Northeast Sunday. However, there may be lingering snow showers in portions of upstate New York and New England, along with blustery and colder conditions.
Even though March and meteorological spring have begun, the pattern across the Midwest and Northeast is expected to be more wintry. Colder air will visit frequently, triggering the potential for more storms with snow.
Correction: This story previously misstated the amount of snow produced by a storm in New York City earlier this week. The storm in New York City helped raise the seasonal total to 2.2 inches when it brought 1.8 inches of snow on Monday and Tuesday combined. It did not produce 2.2 inches of snow on its own.
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