Storms to gather on US East coast with rain, wind and snow to start weekend
Two storms are expected to merge on the Atlantic coast, bringing vast areas of rain, gusty winds and snow for the start of the first weekend of spring along the Eastern Seaboard.
The first day of spring brought wintry weather to many people in the Northeast.
A pair of storms -- one near the Canada border and one from the Gulf -- will converge on the Atlantic coast for the start of the first official weekend of spring 2024, triggering areas of drenching rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms. There will even be a patch of snow in the Northeast early, but new information suggests conditions will improve for the latter part of the weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
Almost simultaneously and roughly 1,000 miles apart, both storms formed at midweek and started to push eastward.
The northern storm developed along the eastern slopes of the southern Canada Rockies and the northern Rockies of the United States and will move with an area of light to moderate snow over the northern Plains and Upper Midwest into Thursday night. The southern storm formed over the northern Gulf of Mexico around midweek and will push eastward along the upper Gulf coast into Thursday night with drenching rain and gusty thunderstorms.
Both storms merge into one large coastal storm
As both storms approach the Atlantic coast to end the week, they will drift closer together, with the southern storm taking a northward jog, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek said.
"There will be stormy conditions to contend with thanks to stiff coastal winds that will create above-normal tides," Dombek said.
The southern storm will likely end up being the stronger of the two systems as the merge begins, and that will trigger a northward expansion of drenching rain with increasing winds, building seas and rough surf from Florida to the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey from Friday to Saturday.
The southern storm will produce locally torrential rain over the Florida Peninsula, which may lead to urban and low-lying area flooding. Locally severe thunderstorms, some packing high winds, and the potential for a tornado or waterspout cannot be ruled out from Friday to Saturday.
Coastal flooding during high tide is possible along the mid-Atlantic coast. The heavy surf action can lead to considerable beach erosion, especially from the Carolinas to New Jersey. This, as some communities have begun cleaning up after the winter in preparation for the beach season to come.
Thunderstorms may erupt along the southern Atlantic coast with locally severe weather conditions.
Along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts, enough rain will pour down fast enough to overwhelm some storm drains and lead to ponding on some area highways.
The northern storm will be the colder of the two storms.
"The northern part of the storm will bring more wintry conditions with snow or a combination of snow and rain to inland areas of northern Pennsylvania, upstate New York and New England," AccuWeather Meteorologist Dean DeVore said.
The heaviest snow will fall in northern New England, where 6-12 inches of snow with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 24 inches is most likely to occur from central Vermont to central Maine.
The storm will bring rain from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston during at least the first part of the weekend. The combination of stiff breezes, low clouds and rain will lead to airline delays.
Because the storm is likely to consolidate and keep moving along rather than stall right on the coast, conditions should improve on Sunday in most areas of the East. The rain and thunderstorms may begin to depart the Southern states by Saturday afternoon.
One area where low clouds and some rain, drizzle and stiff breezes may linger on Sunday will be in southeastern New England and Long Island, New York.
Watching the Atlantic for a homebrew subtropical storm
A storm that forms offshore in the wake of the Saturday coastal storm will be watched closely by AccuWeather meteorologists as it could gradually acquire some tropical characteristics.
The chance of the system evolving into a tropical or subtropical system is extremely low but not zero at this time, AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Meteorologist Alex DaSilva said.
DaSilva pointed out that waters over much of the Atlantic basin are much warmer than the historical average for March. Ocean surface temperatures are near the threshold for tropical development -- 78-79 degrees Fahrenheit from just the southern Atlantic coast to the Caribbean.
The tropical system would have to take shape in these more southern warm waters as areas farther to the north are likely too cool. Instead, a non-tropical system could ramp up over the cooler waters.
There has never been a named tropical system in the Atlantic during March, as winds at the jet stream level of the atmosphere are typically too strong. However, pre-season tropical systems have developed in the past, including some near the U.S., hence the term "homebrew."
The official start of the Atlantic hurricane season is not until June 1.
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