Major Snowfall, Ice Blankets Midwest to Mid-Atlantic
A massive winter storm spreading across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic today will spell heavy snow, ice and sleet to kick off the work week.
A ribbon of moderate to heavy snow will spread east today, cresting the Appalachian Spine into the Mid-Atlantic. Just south of the main heavy snow band will be a zone of potentially dangerous icing, which could be damaging near and to the north of Interstate 64 in Kentucky. A wintry mix will likely limit ice accretion farther east across Virginia near the Interstate 64 corridor.
Widespread Winter Storm Warnings can be found from Illinois into Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio to as far east as southern New Jersey to the Delmarva Peninsula and Virginia Atlantic beaches through early Tuesday morning. Winter Weather Advisories flank the northern and southern fringes of the warnings, which include northern Arkansas into the Missouri Bootheel and southwestern Kentucky to southern Pennsylvania-New Jersey and northern and western North Carolina.
Interstates 35, 44, 55, 64, 69, 70, and the heavily-populated 95 corridor in the Mid-Atlantic will have very dangerous, if not impossible, travel at times between today and early on Tuesday morning. St. Louis to Louisville and Lexington, Ky., Morgantown and Beckley, W. Va., and Richmond, Va., to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia will experience either snow or ice-covered roads. If you cannot avoid travel, it will be best to allow plenty of distance and time to reach your travel destination safely.
When it is all said and done, the likely range of snow is forecast to reach 6 to 12 inches from Illinois to the Delmarva Peninsula by Tuesday morning. Localized 12 to 18-inch amounts will not be out of the question across the higher terrain near the Blue Ridge and central Appalachian Spine. South of this impressive snow band will be accumulating ice, enough to down tree limbs and knock out power, especially from southern Indiana and northern Kentucky to western and southwestern Virginia. One-tenth to one-third inch of ice with locally higher accretion will be possible here.
This winter-weather maker will also deliver gusty winds. Wind Advisories can be found scattered across the Plains and Mid-Atlantic, where wind gusts up to 45 to 55 mph will be possible. In fact, on the heels of this system, colder air shifting out of Canada will produce very chilly temperatures across the Midwest and even as far south as New Mexico and Florida. Cold Weather Advisories can be found spreading across the southern Rockies, Plains, Deep South and Southeast. The coldest wind chills as low as 15 degrees below zero will be possible across New Mexico, with wind chills as low as 25 degrees below zero found in Nebraska.
It’s never too early to prepare for inclement weather. Simply having an emergency kit equipped with a weather radio, extra batteries, non-perishable food, water, clean clothes and blankets will go a long way in keeping your family safe, warm and protected.