Another Mix of Snow and Rain for Upper Plains and Midwest Before Moving to the East

Posted: February 22, 2021 4:30 pm

The month of February is not done bringing the winter hits. While some parts of the country will finally get a reprieve from the winter weather, the northern tier of the nation is not going to be as lucky.

New System Brought Heavy Snow to upper Plains and Midwest: A new storm system brought more heavy winter precipitation to the upper Plains and Midwest late Saturday and into Sunday, dumping snow in areas of Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. Omaha was hit particularly hard by the snow, seeing five inches of snow in just a few hours Sunday morning. Nearly eight new inches of snow was on the ground by the time the system pushed through later in the day.

The snow trekked into Minnesota and Wisconsin late Sunday with the Great Lakes region seeing significant precipitation. The good news for storm weary cities is that the bulk of the major metropolitan areas in the path of this new system were spared heavy accumulation. Minneapolis, Chicago, and Des Moines escaped with only an inch or two of new accumulation.

Monday’s Path: The system is currently pushing eastward with the central Appalachians, the mid-Atlantic, and New England in its sights. Because the storm is moving at a fast clip, most areas will not see the high amount of accumulation that comes when a system stalls out.

Drivers along the I-95 corridor should be ready for a potentially messy Monday evening and Tuesday morning commute. While the snow will move through the area quickly, it has the possibility of being heavy at times. The greatest chance of rapidly falling and accumulating snowfall will happen in eastern Pennsylvania and into central New York state. Southern New England may also pick up heavy snow during the Monday evening hours.

Rainy Weather Farther South: Farther south, the system will likely bring precipitation in the form of rain. The greatest threat of disruptive rain will fall throughout the mid-Atlantic and into North Carolina. Rain squalls and gusty winds may become a problem for travel.

Warm Air Behind the System: On the back of the end of this storm, people will be treated to a burst of warmer air. This will bring milder weather conditions to a large part of the eastern half of the US later this week. These temperatures are sure to be a welcome reprieve for those tired of this long winter.

However, this substantial warmup may trigger flooding in the mid-Atlantic as the ice from last week begins to thaw. Motorists should be aware of the potential for urban flooding as the mercury begins to rise.

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