Winter storm blankets the South and May ends snow drought in the Northeast
A winter storm will move eastward over much of the Southeast on Monday, bringing more snow and freezing temperatures to the region before reaching the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday, where forecasters said it could end an almost two-year drought without snow. ..
The Southeast braced for extremely cold temperatures on Monday, with several states under winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories.
The governors of Mississippi And Alabama declared a state of emergency as officials across the region warming centers opened and advised residents to prepare for freezing temperatures.
Snow, sleet and freezing rain were expected to blanket parts of East Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and the Tennessee Valley late Sunday into Monday morning as the storm moved east. Several inches of snow are expected to fall in Arkansas, the Tennessee Valley and the southern Appalachians This is reported by the National Weather Service.
The storm system moving across the Southern and Southern Appalachians is expected to hit the East Coast on Monday, with the first snowfall expected overnight before reaching the New York metropolitan area Tuesday through Wednesday, according to Brian Hurley, a meteorologist at the Weather Service.
The weather service office in Philadelphia said it expected light snowfall accumulations late Monday and Tuesday, ending a streak of 714 days without an inch or more of snow there.
“Most of the snow will fall Monday evening, and it will be a light fluffy snow,” the office said on Facebook, adding that the snow could change to “a wintry mix or rain” before ending late Tuesday.
A streak of 701 days without an inch or more of snow in New York City could also be coming to an end. This was reported by the Weather Service office in New York in his prediction that snow accumulations of one to five inches were possible on Tuesday.
“For many of these major cities, we don't see anything more than two to three inches with this particular system,” Mr. Hurley said, referring to expected snowfall in the Northeast. He added that forecasters would monitor the system late Friday.
“If it stays closer to the coast by then, that could actually give us a little bit more snow here in the Northeast,” he said.
New York City was predicted on Monday to reach daytime highs in the lower 30s and lows in the upper 20s, the Weather Service said, adding there was a 60 percent chance of snow.
Another system had also brought subzero wind chills to the Plains and parts of the Midwest, forecasters said, and “near-record, dangerously low” temperatures could persist in parts of the Midwest, the Weather Service said.
Republicans in Iowa are likely to experience record-low temperatures ahead of the Iowa Caucus on Monday evening.
Heavy lake-effect snow was expected to continue blanketing parts of northern Michigan and northern and western New York state, including the city of Buffalo, where a winter storm warning was in effect until early Monday morning.
Heavy winds and snow there over the weekend caused the NFL to postpone a Buffalo Bills playoff game until Monday afternoon. Residents said the storm paled in comparison to the deadly snowstorm that hit the Buffalo area in late 2022, adding that advance warnings had given them plenty of time to prepare.
“It gave you a better understanding of what was going on,” said Lisa Fuentes, who works in the city of Tonawanda, just north of Buffalo. That wasn't the case before the snowstorm of 2022, when she ran to the store for last-minute supplies. “I could barely get home from the store before it hit me hard.”
Paul Lane reporting contributed.