A massive storm will spread snow and ice along a 1,500-mile-long zone from vast portions of the Plains and Mississippi Valley to many areas of the Appalachians and the Atlantic coast from this weekend to early next week, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. Widespread travel problems will unfold and bitterly cold air will follow in many areas.
The storm is shaping up to be the first widespread cross-country winter storm of the season for the central and eastern United States and will negatively affect travel during the final days of the holiday break.
At this time, a major snowstorm is forecast from a large part of Nebraska to southern and central Ohio and West Virginia. Enough snow to shovel and plow (3-6 inches or more) will extend for about 1,000 miles from western Nebraska to West Virginia.
Heavy snow, where 6-12 inches and locally higher amounts are forecast, will extend from northern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska to southern Ohio, encompassing much of the Interstate 70 corridor. Major cities likely to pick up many inches of snow include Topeka, Kansas; St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri; Springfield, Illinois; Indianapolis and Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 22 inches is most likely to occur somewhere from northern Missouri to west-central Illinois to northeastern Kansas.
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Exactly how much snow falls in Kansas City and St. Louis, will depend on the amount of sleet and freezing rain that occur. Where all snow falls, the snow accumulation may be boosted by several inches.
Just south of the snow zone, an area of ice containing sleet and freezing rain will extend from roughly I-40 to near I-70 from the Plains to the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Springfield, Missouri, could be in for a substantial amount of ice that brings dangerous travel conditions.
The zone from southeastern Kansas to southern Missouri, southern Illinois and southern and central Kentucky could face a destructive ice storm, where a heavy glaze of ice may bring down many trees and power lines that can block roads. The power could be out for days at a time in some communities when dangerously cold air invades in the wake of the storm. There may be a great need for shelters to be set up to account for the population that could be affected.
As the storm reaches the Appalachians and the Atlantic coast, the area that could receive accumulating snow from the storm will extend from near I-68 to near I-80. Some major hubs in the Northeast are included in this zone, including New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
The icy zone may extend across portions of North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and the southern parts of Virginia and could involve Richmond, Virginia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
As the storm continues to press to the east, the area of snow and ice will become more dependent on a separate storm over southeastern Canada. That eastern Canada storm could force the U.S. storm and the zones of snow and ice farther south rather than allow the U.S. storm and its freezing and frozen precipitation to climb north along the Atlantic coast.
A more southern track could mean dry conditions in New York City and Philadelphia, snow for Raleigh, Richmond and Washington, D.C., and ice or a wintry mix for Atlanta, Charlotte and Greenville, South Carolina.
The storm is likely to be potent enough to trigger thunderstorms south of the track, and some of those storms in the I-10 and I-20 corridors could be severe.
As the cross-country storm rides an expanding zone of Arctic air, frigid conditions will pour into the Southern states in its wake, bringing some of the lowest temperatures in years before the middle of January.
More far-reaching winter storms may follow in the pattern, and one or more could send snow and ice toward the Gulf Coast states.
One such storm is being watched for that later next week. That same storm could begin near the Gulf and travel north, bringing snow and ice along the Atlantic coast.
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