Wintry threat looms for interior Northeast

While a potent storm system batters the Eastern Seaboard with rain, wind and rough surf, a wintry threat lurks for the interior Northeast to start the workweek.

An icy mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow will rake through interior portions of the Northeast and parts of southeastern Canada from first thing Monday into Monday night.

Commuters in places like Binghamton and Albany, New York and Burlington, Vermont, may have to allow for some extra travel time Monday as rain moves in while temperatures are still below freezing. Bridges and overpasses will be the most susceptible to becoming icy.

Sidewalks may also be very slippery for a time for pedestrians heading to school or work or the bus stop.

While any coating of ice can make surfaces slippery, the greatest amounts of sleet and freezing rain are expected from northern Vermont and New Hampshire into interior Maine and the St. Lawrence Valley in Canada.

"While only a thin coating of ice is anticipated from the storm, a small amount of ice can be especially dangerous for motorists," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

"Roads that appear to be wet may have a thin glaze of ice on them, known as black ice," Sosnowski said.

Even some towns and cities farther south and east could also start as some sleet and freezing rain early Monday before changing to plain rain. Portions of the lower Hudson Valley into southern New England may have a few hours of frozen precipitation just before or around the Monday morning rush hour.

Places like Poughkeepsie, New York, Springfield and Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Portland, Maine, will have to keep a close eye on conditions as precipitation first arrives Monday.

"Farther south and east in New England, a prolonged icy mix is not expected, but there is a chance there could be just enough and just in time for the Monday morning commute to still cause serious issues," said Brian Thompson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

Cold air already in place across the region, combined with another brief reinforcing shot of cold arriving through the Great Lakes, will help provide the necessary ingredients for this icy mix.

"As the rain and milder air being brought north by this powerful storm meets the cold air in place, the warmer air will rise over the top of the colder air, creating a shallow layer of cold, subfreezing air in the interior Northeast," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Isaac Longley.

Closer to the coast, enough mild air will arrive to get surface temperatures above freezing before rain arrives. The cold air will be much more difficult to root out farther inland, and could lead to some places in eastern New York into northern New England and the St. Lawrence Valley remaining below freezing throughout the day Monday.

Reinforcing cold will follow this storm system, although not as cold as the recent Arctic blast. As the cold deepens later Monday night into Tuesday, many of the same areas that receive an icy mix Monday will see a change to all snow by Tuesday morning.

Many from east-central and northeastern New York state to northern New England coating to an inch or two by Tuesday morning. Some higher spots in the Adirondacks and Green and White Mountains may receive a few inches of snow with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 6 inches possible in northern Maine during Tuesday morning.

This will help to keep the slippery travel conditions around for Tuesday morning as well for many away from the coast, from northeastern Pennsylvania to Maine.

While it will continue to feel very winterlike in the Northeast through Tuesday, the next storm system in the Plains brings a brief surge of warmer air to end the work week.

Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

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