The National Weather Service is warning people in the northern U.S. states that a fast-moving winter storm is headed their way. It could dump up to 12 inches of snow in some areas.
“A fast-moving wintry weather pattern is forecast to prevail across the northern tier states through the next few days,” NWS wrote for the time period of Thursday, December 4, through Saturday, December 6. “Starting from the western U.S., snow ahead of a digging upper-level trough has continued to persist across the central Rockies into the High Plains of Colorado where Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories remain in effect,” the alert says.
The National Weather Service warned of “Snow Squalls in the Northeast U.S. on Thursday.” The alert says, “Lake-effect snow will linger across the Great Lakes with snow squalls possible over interior New England as periods of mountain snow blanket portions of the Rockies/High Plains and Pacific Northwest…”
The new storm comes on the heels of a blizzard that rocked the Midwest, causing a plane to skid off a runway in Iowa, hundreds of flight cancellations, and other issues. At one points, 15,000 flights were either cancelled or delayed as a result of that snowfall, which set a record at O’Hare International Airport.
Mountain Locations May Be the Hardest Hit, the National Weather Service Says
The snow “is forecast to drift southward into northern portion of New Mexico tonight before it gradually tapers off on Thursday as the upper trough exits the southern Rockies into the southern Plains,” added the National Weather Service.
“Mountain locations can expect snowfall totals of 6-12″, locally higher, with totals range from 3 to 6 inches for lower elevations along the Colorado Front Range. The back end of the snow is forecast to reach the panhandle of Texas Thursday morning before ending Thursday afternoon,” the warning says.
In the north, “an initial surge of polar air behind a clipper-like system has initiated lake-effect snow across the upper Great Lakes. As the associated cold front sweeps across the remainder of the Great Lakes tonight and into New England by Thursday, lake-effect snow will overspread the lower Great Lakes along with the possibility of snow squalls across interior New England on Thursday,” added the warning.
“Blustery and colder conditions will follow across much of the Northeast Thursday night into Friday. This surge of arctic air is forecast to bring temperatures cold enough to challenge low temperature records across the Midwest on Thursday and then across the northern Mid-Atlantic to southern New England on Friday.”
Added NWS: “As a high-pressure system associated with the arctic air invades the northern and central U.S., the aforementioned upper-level trough will emerge into the southern Plains on Thursday and will begin to interact with a front near the Gulf Coast. This weather pattern will increase the chance of moderate to heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms for the western and central Gulf Coast on Thursday, spreading into the eastern Gulf Coast and across the Southeast on Friday.”
The NWS publishes several weather forecast maps on its website.
