A storm is set to spread accumulating snow along an approximate 1,800-mile-long swath from the northern Plains to the interior Northeast by early in the week.
The storm follows on the heels of a powerful weather maker that unleashed an outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes across the South, damaging wind gusts and a wintry mess to parts of the Great Lakes and Northeast during the latter part of the week and into the beginning of the weekend.
AccuWeather forecasters say the upcoming storm is not expected to pack as much of a punch as its predecessor, but can still create enough wintry weather to cause travel problems. More than a foot of snow could potentially clog streets and sidewalks in the heaviest band of snow.
The first wave of snow is forecast to break out across the western Dakotas early Sunday morning. By Sunday evening, snow will extend across much of North Dakota and eastward to Minnesota and far western Wisconsin.
Minneapolis can receive a few inches of accumulation from Sunday through Monday. The city is coming off of an impressive month of February in terms of snowfall, during which the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport picked up 15.5 inches compared to the historical average of 9.5 inches.
“In many areas from Minnesota to Wisconsin, high temperatures will be above freezing on Sunday. As the snow arrives later in the day and continues Sunday night, temperatures can fall below freezing which can lead to any wet roads turning icy,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
Commutes to work and school on either side of the clock on Monday may be slippery and slower than normal as a result of the wintry weather in places such as Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota, and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Portions of the interior Northeast could experience another dose of wintry weather later Monday and Monday night as the storm tracks eastward.
“From southeast Ontario into the southern tier of New York, a narrow band of 6 inches or more of snow is possible,” Douty said.
For places such as New York City, where a sizable snow drought continues, the storm can start as rain Monday evening before mixing with or changing to snow later at night.
“It remains possible a slushy covering of snow can fall on grass and car tops, but a lasting accumulation on roads is not expected,” Douty said.
“It may be a different story north and west of the city where a slushy accumulation can cause slick conditions later Monday night and early Tuesday morning,” he added.
To the south and west of the zone of accumulating snow, it is possible that a narrow zone of freezing rain or sleet breaks out Monday night, leading to pockets of icy conditions on the roadways.
Unseasonably cold air will become entrenched across the North Central states and northeastern tier of the United States in the wake of this storm. This may result in more opportunities for wintry weather as at least one large storm crosses the country later next week.
Produced in association with AccuWeather
