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Three words for many of you this weekend: Let the snow fall.
Or blow. Or freeze. Or rain.
Back-to-back winter storms will rear their ugly heads in the coming days, with the first storm arriving in densely populated areas of the eastern United States on Saturday.
Early next week, another system will arrive, the type that meteorologists like to call a “kitchen sink” storm.
Speaking of our meetings, we sat down to chat with them about what they're watching most in the weather right now.
A winter storm, dubbed Ember by The Weather Channel, is expected to bring several inches of water snowAnd also rain ice High winds are likely to blow from the southeast into New England this weekend. What do people need to know?
Jonathan Bales: Winter Storm Ember would be a pretty big problem in any winter, but this year it comes after a year that saw little snow along the I-95 corridor. Most locations in New York City and points south will remain with just rain or a sloppy mess, but the storm itself is a sign that the Northeast could see a winter this year.
Danielle Banks: The difficult part is that timing varies from person to person. Boston, for example, has a very chaotic Sunday, but for Philly, it's chaotic most of the weekend.
Jonathan: Additionally, this will be a devastating storm across the region. Heavy snow is expected within Interstate 95, gusty winds are likely along the New England coast, and cold rain is expected from Long Island to the mid-Atlantic. Power outages may be possible in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina due to freezing rain and also due to wind gusts in southern New England. Traveling won't be fun either.
Much of the discussion about Winter Storm Ember focuses on the Northeast, but what about other regions? What about the storm coming right behind it?
Linda Lam: As Jonathan mentioned, snow, ice and rain will also fall in the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley this weekend. I will be traveling from Georgia to Kentucky and will be watching the type of precipitation closely as it doesn't take a lot of ice or snow to lead to slippery roads.
Danielle: I'll tell you what I'm most worried about this weekend is the ice over the central Appalachians, and the possibility of freezing rain.
Jonathan: The second storm, Winter Storm Finland, may be larger in the grand scheme of things as it will have a greater impact along and east of the Mississippi River. Heavy rain and snow are possible across the East, and some strong thunderstorms are also possible along the Gulf Coast.
Chris Dolce: A few Weather.com meteorologists like to use the phrase “kitchen sinking storm” when a major system like this checks the boxes for so many hazards at once. These storms occur in the cooler months of the year when the jet stream is most powerful and able to generate strong areas of low pressure that can provide a wide range of weather conditions due to the collision between temperate air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold air leaking south from Canada.
Can we give anyone some good news?
Linda: Much of Texas to the lower Mississippi Valley will have fairly pleasant conditions this weekend. The weather is expected to be dry with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. However, rain will return early Sunday night, and parts of this area should be prepared for the possibility of severe thunderstorms on Monday.
Jonathan: Even the Northeast will have good days this weekend. New England will see milder air and rain-free skies on Saturday before Ember arrives. The Mid-Atlantic and into the Carolinas will see clear skies on Sunday with little cold air.
What else is on your radar?
Chris: There is increasing evidence in our forecast models that widespread arctic air will soon return to the lower 48, putting December's mild weather in the rearview mirror. Arctic air It is expected to build Across western Canada next week. It could then begin to flow into the northern parts of the Rocky Mountains and Plains later next week before pushing south across the rest of the Rockies and central United States the following weekend. It's too early to provide details on how cold this air mass will be, but we'll be watching it closely next week.
Weather.com Reporter Jean Childs Covers breaking news and features on weather, space, climate change, environment and everything in between.
The Weather Company's primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment, and the importance of science in our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
