A storm will bring just enough wintry precipitation to cause travel trouble ahead of Christmas Day from the Great Lakes and the Northeast, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
A stripe of heavy snow will move along the northern tier of the region, but a smaller amount of snow and an icy mix will fall farther south. Travel hazards and delays are likely on the roads while airline delays mount due to deicing operations in the travel hubs from the Great Lakes to the Interstate 95 corridor of the Northeast.
The bulk of the wintry mix was passing to the north of Chicago on Tuesday. By the time there is spotty precipitation around the metro area, temperatures should be just a bit above freezing.
Around Detroit, snow is in store into this evening with up to an inch of accumulation. Because the temperature may be above freezing during most of the snow around the immediate city, at least some of and perhaps much of the snow will melt on the roads. However, outside the city, secondary roads can be slippery. Since snow showers may persist into the first part of Monday night, as the temperature dips, roads can become slippery in the downtown area. Heavy snow, with 6-12 inches in store, is forecast for northern Michigan from the storm.
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The upcoming snow (and ice) will follow the coldest morning in two years on Monday for much of the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic and since early February 2023 in eastern New England. Even though temperatures will not drop all that much Monday night, it will be cold enough for frozen and freezing precipitation to cause problems.
In the central Appalachians and around the eastern Great Lakes, it will not take long for many untreated roads to become slippery Monday afternoon and evening. A general 1-3 inches of snow will fall from western and northern Pennsylvania to much of upstate New York into Tuesday. However, a stripe of heavier snow-from 3 to 6 inches-is forecast for northern New York to northern New England.
While the snow will provide skiers in the region with a fresh natural covering of powder just in time for Christmas, motorists heading through the central and northern Appalachians and the eastern Great Lakes should be prepared for slippery travel Monday night to Tuesday morning. This includes vast stretches of interstates 70, 76, 80, 81, 86, 87, 88, 89 and 90.
As the moisture from the storm reaches toward the coast, some of it will diminish. However, even a small amount of snow and/or ice can make for slippery and dangerous conditions on the roads and sidewalks where the temperature dips to near the freezing mark.
Around Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, there may only be a few hours of occasional light wintry mix or icy rain during the morning hours, including the Tuesday rush hour.
Farther north along I-95, a wintry mix is forecast around the same part of the day in Philadelphia with a coating to an inch, where there is more snow for a time, rather than sleet or freezing rain.
Around New York City, snow will begin late Monday night north and west of the city. Snow is likely to begin near or shortly after daybreak and continue of varying intensity through the morning. A coating to an inch is forecast, with most of that on non-paved surfaces, especially north and west of the city. Most roads will be wet once treated during the midday hours.
In Boston, periods of snow are forecast to begin late Monday night and continue through the midday hours on Tuesday. Accumulations of a coating to an inch are in store. Like around New York City, once roads are treated, they should be mostly wet during the midday hours around the city. However, where more snow falls on the hilly areas outside of the city, roads may remain slippery until the storm moves away in the afternoon.
In the wake of the storm, the weather will be relatively quiet and good for travel for the evening hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from the eastern Great Lakes to the Northeast. No significant lake-effect snow is forecast to follow the storm. However, any areas that remain wet at the end of the day on Tuesday can become icy Tuesday night, unless treated.
A potent storm will bring drenching rain and locally severe thunderstorms to parts of the south-central United States on Christmas Day. The latest indications are that while some rain and wintry precipitation will streak northward into part of the Upper Midwest, it may be spotty and light.
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