Snow, Heavy Rain Hits The Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic
An active week of winter storms across the U.S. begins across the Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic through Tuesday night.
The ingredients will start to come together today to produce a wintry blast for the mid-latitudes of the U.S. this week. A disturbance rolling through the Rockies will start to draw Gulf of Mexico moisture northward into the Plains tonight into Tuesday. At the same time, a deep pool of Arctic air will be diving southward through the Dakotas and into the central Plains.
The result will be a small but powerful area of storminess developing across the south-central Plains and Mid-South. Showers and thunderstorms are expected tonight into early Tuesday from Arkansas to northeastern Texas, which will spread eastward into the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday. The rain will continue to make its way eastward Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, soaking the Smokies and then much of North Carolina.
The repetitive nature of these storms is likely to squeeze copious amounts of moisture out along the Interstate 40 corridor from Little Rock, Ark., to Nashville, Tenn. Rainfall totals from this storm will likely exceed an inch in most places, with 2 to 3 inches of rain likely in some areas. This could lead to areas of flash flooding.
Meanwhile, the colder side of the storm will feed off the Arctic air mass digging into the U.S. to produce heavy snowfall from the central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic. There will be two main areas of accumulating snow. One from southern Missouri eastward into Kentucky, Virginia and the Delmarva Peninsula, with the other one found from central Missouri into central Illinois, northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Snow will be common on Tuesday from just south of St. Louis spreading toward Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati during the morning, with 2 to 5 inches of accumulation expected.
As the developing storm approaches the Eastern Seaboard, it will feed off of the Atlantic, drawing a fresh dose of moisture into the Mid-Atlantic from southern Pennsylvania to Virginia. Depending on the storm’s exact timing and track, residents from the Baltimore metro area to Richmond’s northern suburbs should be on the lookout for heavy snowfall starting Tuesday afternoon and lasting through early Wednesday. Widespread accumulations of 4 to 6 inches are expected, with locally 7 to 10 inches where the heaviest bands set up. Lighter accumulations are likely as far north as the New York City area.
Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for northern Kentucky, West Virginia, northern and western parts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and southern New Jersey. Cities that will be impacted by wintry weather include St. Louis, Louisville, Ky., Harrisonburg, Va., Washington D.C. and Baltimore.
Additional Winter Storm Watches, Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories stretch from eastern Colorado, the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, most of Kansas and southern Nebraska into northern Missouri, southeastern Iowa, northern Illinois, northwestern Indiana, southeastern Wisconsin and southern Michigan. This includes Kansas City, Mo., Chicago, Milwaukee, Wis., and Lansing, Mich.
The wheel of weather fortune keeps spinning, with yet another storm system poised to move through the eastern half of the country on Wednesday night and Thursday. Another 1 to 2 inches of rain is possible across the Mid-South, exacerbating any flooding that might develop earlier in the week. Meanwhile, forecast trends show this storm moving further north, bringing heavy snow from the central Plains to New England and New York.
Be sure to check back throughout the week for the latest as the active weather pattern continues for the eastern U.S.