- A major winter storm looms from the Rocky Mountains and Plains to the Great Lakes and Northeast.
- Heavy snow and blizzards are likely in parts of the Northern Plains and upper Midwest.
- Ice and snow accumulations are expected in the Great Lakes region and the Northeast.
- This will make travel difficult, if not impossible, in some areas.
A major winter storm will spread heavy snow and blizzards across the Rocky Mountains, Plains and upper Midwest, and snow and ice from the Great Lakes into parts of the Northeast.
The winter storm was named Olive Storm by The Weather Channel.
Although February is one of the warmest months on record for parts of the Midwest and Northeast, it is also the month with the highest number of winter storms in the United States over the past 10 years.
The stormy reputation will surely serve Olive.
and letters
Numerous winter storm watches, winter storm warnings, and winter weather advisories have been published by the National Weather Service for Olives from the Rocky Mountains to the upper Midwest, as shown on the map below.
These include blizzard warnings for parts of the northern high plains.
Note that clocks may eventually be upgraded to warnings.
O live is expected to be a major storm for parts of the Plains and upper Midwest, where heavy snow and strong winds can cause whitewashing conditions and very dangerous travel.
timing
It may now fall in some of these areas for several days. Here is our latest forecast timing.
– Tuesday and Tuesday nights: Snow is prevalent in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and the high terrain in the desert southwest. Snow is also prevalent in the northern plains and western great lakes.
Tuesday forecast
(Areas of rain, snow, ice, and mixed rain are shown by the color lines.)
– Wednesday and Wednesday night: Snow intensifies in the northern plains, and upper Midwest with blizzards likely. Snow is common in the Inland Northeast and New England and intensifies late. Snow and ice develop from the Missouri Valley to the south of the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast.
Wednesday forecast
(Areas of rain, snow, ice, and mixed rain are shown by the color lines.)
– Thursday and Thursday nights: Snow, along with some sleet and sleet, is decreasing in the western Great Lakes but continuing in parts of New York and New England before departing by early Friday morning.
(maps: Daily rain/snow forecast for the next 7 days for the United States)
Thursday forecast
(Areas of rain, snow, ice, and mixed rain are shown by the color lines.)
How much snow and ice?
S now
As mentioned above, this blizzard will likely last for several days.
This has been, and still is, Unusually good prediction model agreement About the probability of at least 1 foot of snow falling from parts of South Dakota to Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and northern Michigan. This includes the Minneapolis-St. Metro Pool area, as this could be the metro’s biggest blizzard in at least 12 years.
Parts of western and southern Minnesota could see up to two feet of snow.
A minimum of 6 inches of snow is a good bet in much of the Rocky Mountains and high plains of Montana and Wyoming, and the high country of Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.
I’m in the Northeast, at least 6 inches of snow is a good bet over northern New York to Vermont, New Hampshire and southern Maine at least. Light snow accumulations are generally expected south of the New York Thruway and Interstate 90 to Massachusetts and southern New England, though snow may not be the only winter precipitation there.
We expect snow accumulation to remain immediately north of the New York City metro area.
Snow forecast
(Note, this forecast includes a separate light snow event that will brush areas near the Canadian border from north of the Great Lakes into northern New England during Tuesday night. The majority of the snowfall on the above map, however, will occur with Winter Storm Olive.)
W Ends
Strong winds and heavy snow will combine to produce blizzards in parts of the northern plains from late Tuesday through early Thursday.
T Ravel can become very difficult, if not impossible, over areas from Wyoming to South Dakota, central and southern Minnesota and even northern Wisconsin. Roads, including highways, may become impassable or may be closed, especially in rural areas.
The cold air blowing in during the blizzard can become life threatening for those stranded on the roads.
we Strongly He urged those with travel plans in these areas to either complete them before the storm or put them off until after the storm has passed.
Some power outages and downed tree limbs or trees can also be caused by the weight of snow accompanied by strong winds.
ice
In addition to the travel headache, a spell of sleet and sleet of rain is expected to accompany the storm from the southern Great Lakes into the interior Northeast and New England from Wednesday through Thursday.
These ice build-ups can make many roads slippery.
A few areas – indicated by darker colors in the map below – could see larger ice accumulations capable of at least some damage to trees and power outages.
Areas on the northern edge of the color stripes below could see more accumulated sleet, compared to freezing rain. This can still make roads slippery, but it will be less damaging to trees and a threat to power outages.
P lan for the potentially high impact of travel in these areas from Wednesday to Thursday.
Ice potential buildup
(From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Weather Prediction Center, this map shows the chance of ice accumulating at least 0.1 inch from the storm over the next 72 hours. These ice accumulations are usually enough to make most roads slippery, at least for a while. Dark lines indicate the potential for higher ice accumulations capable of causing at least some tree damage and power outages.)
What is this big winter storm?
Winter storms usually extend to much of the real estate in February because cold air is plentiful and the jet stream is strong in this prime winter month.
In this case, the cold air does not spread far enough, but it will sink into the West, Northern Plains, and Great Lakes as it seeps south from eastern Canada into northern New England and parts of the inland Northeast.
The jet stream will be very energetic, taking a sharp dip to the west, then tossing strong pulses across the plains to the northeast.
This will generate low pressure along the front, separating cooler air from warmer air sharply over the southeast. The moisture being pulled north will overcome the cold air, picking up the snow, sleet, and freezing rain that I alluded to earlier.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather, the environment, and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of its parent company, IBM.
