Lifestyles

2nd storm this week to deliver winter's worst yet in Midwest with snow, freeze-up and dangerous cold

Alex Sosnowski # weather
frigid

Following the second of two winter storms with snow, ice and blizzard conditions into Saturday night, it will look and feel like the dead of winter across much of the Plains and Midwest by Sunday.

By Saturday night, it is possible that some communities will have been hit by three accumulating snow events in a week, counting the storm from last weekend through the storms late this week and early this weekend.

Motorists should be on the lookout for slippery conditions from the central Plains to the Great Lakes during the nighttime and morning drive hours through Wednesday.

Aside from spotty snow showers and pockets of freezing fog and drizzle into midweek, two winter storms will roll eastward across the region before the weekend draws to a close.

First storm to bring slippery travel, delays

During Wednesday night and Thursday, the first of two storms is scheduled to spread a batch of light to moderate snow from Nebraska and northern Kansas to central and northern Ohio to the southern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.



Enough snow will fall to make roads slippery and is likely to be enough to have to shovel and plow in many communities along the Interstate-80 corridor.

An icy mix, including some snow is forecast along much of the I-70 corridor from Kansas to Ohio during the Wednesday night to Thursday event.



Second storm to disrupt travel, create dangerous winter conditions

The second storm of the week will be a more potent storm and have significantly more impact than the first storm this week.

While the first storm may be little more than a nuisance, the storm slated to travel from west to east across the Central states from Friday to Saturday night is forecast to bring heavier precipitation, strong winds and a blast of bitterly cold air on its backside with a rapid freeze-up.

The second storm has the potential to strand motorists on the highways and at airports. Some roads may close and scores of flights are likely to be canceled at the major Midwest hubs.

Rain is likely to fall at the height of the storm in Cincinnati and others which received heavy snow last weekend, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Courtney Travis.



"Where piles of snow are blocking storm drains, street flooding can occur due to rain and a brief dose of mild air,"
Travis said.

A short distance farther north, near I-70 from eastern Missouri to Ohio, these are likely to receive all or mostly snow from the storm from Friday night to Saturday. St. Louis, Terre Haute, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio, will be near the edge of an all-out snowstorm and a storm that brings some combination of snow, ice and rain.



Moderate to heavy snow is forecast in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, essentially near and just north of I-70 to near and just north of I-80. More snow will fall on Kansas City, Missouri, as well.



Those caught outside during the height of the storm will face plunging temperatures and snow that will become difficult to remove as slush will freeze and many ice-melting chemicals may become ineffective. Stretches of roadways that were wet will become icy.

During the day Friday, the heaviest snow from the storm is likely to spread from South Dakota to portions of eastern Nebraska, southwestern Minnesota and western and northern Iowa.

The heavy snow area will set up farther to the south and east across the Midwest during Friday night and Saturday.

Snow will develop and become heavy from eastern Kansas, northern Missouri and southeastern Iowa and spread to central and northern Illinois, northern Indiana and northern Ohio, as well as the southern tier of Wisconsin and the southern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

"Accumulating snow may even dip as far south as central Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas on Saturday,"
according to AccuWeather Lead Storm Warning Meteorologist Eddie Walker.

Frigid air, freeze-up to follow 2nd storm

Because of the brutal cold following the storm, those expected to be in the area of heaviest snow may experience power outages. These communities should be prepared to find safe, alternate ways of staying warm. In addition, lengthy power outages could lead to pipe bursts, especially those on exterior walls or on improperly insulated pipes

During Friday night and Saturday, blizzard conditions may develop over the central Plains and spread eastward across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley states. Temperatures will plummet from the 20s, 30s and 40s F to the single digits, teens and 20s.

Rain may change to snow in parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, western West Virginia and southeastern Ohio during Saturday night.

The coldest air of the winter so far will blast in behind the storm over much of the Central states.

AccuWeather RealFeelĀ® Temperatures will dip to 10 to 20 degrees lower than the actual temperature, which will result in levels well below zero across much of the northern and central Plains to the Upper Midwest.



Northerly winds are likely to frequently gust between 30 and 45 mph at the height of the storm and in its immediate wake and spread from west to east during Saturday and Sunday.

Anywhere a layer of powdery snow falls, it will be subject to blowing and drifting as the storm pulls away.

Even in areas where all or mostly rain falls from the storm over parts of the southern Plains to near and south of the Ohio River, a rapid freeze-up can lead to icy patches.



Due to the magnitude of the cold air flowing over the open waters of the Great Lakes, bands of heavy lake-effect snow may join in on the tail end of the storm and continue on Sunday and perhaps into Monday in some areas.

Freezing air will reach all the way to the upper Gulf of Mexico coast in the wake of the storm from Texas Saturday night to the Florida Panhandle Sunday night.

Temperatures are expected to fall through the single digits with RealFeel TemperaturesĀ® below zero for the NFL playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City during Sunday evening.

It is possible the severity of the cold and lingering conditions resembling the Arctic tundra may lead to school delays and closings into early next week.