Roller Coaster Weather Pattern Continues in the Eastern Half of the U.S. This Week

Posted: December 6, 2023 9:00 am

An Alberta Clipper storm is taking aim at the eastern U.S. to start the week, however, a drier and warmer weather pattern will mark the end of the week. Here is a look at this roller coaster of a forecast for the eastern half of the nation in the coming days.

Latest Details on Alberta Clipper

The clipper system is currently diving down from Canada, cutting a path through the Midwest, the Great Lakes, and into the mid-Atlantic through Wednesday. Snow has already been an issue for parts of the Dakotas and the Upper Midwest while rain is the major form of precipitation from this storm for the mid-Atlantic.

The weather maker will move in a southeasterly direction before it moves out to sea by late Wednesday. The coldest air will be circulating to the northeast of the clipper with the warmest air anchored to the southwest of the storm line. The greatest impacts will be located in areas where the snow falls persistently rather than just moving through quickly.

The silver lining is that this early season clipper storm is not expected to be particularly intense. Most areas will just see light snow showers and rain. However, motorists will still want to be aware of the possibility of rapidly changing road conditions if the snow bands form in a concentrated area. Snow that falls in the overnight hours will also create more dangers because of the colder temperatures during this time period.

In addition, the majority of the snow is expected to unleash during the daytime hours in a widespread zone from Michigan through Ohio. The warmer temperatures at this time of the day will help to keep the snow limited to accumulations on grassy surfaces rather than roadways and sidewalks.

The highest chance of accumulation will be across the Upper Midwest. Airlines may also experience slight delays if the planes need to be deiced.

Moving to the east, the heaviest of the snow will hit late Tuesday and into Wednesday for the central and southern Appalachians. The timing of this snow later at night will translate to accumulations of a few inches due to the colder temperatures. Roads in the higher terrains of West Virginia, western portions of Virginia and Maryland, and southwestern Pennsylvania could be dealing with slippery conditions on Wednesday morning. For instance, commuters in Pittsburgh may see a bit of a headache when they head to work on Wednesday.

Warmer temperatures in the area east of the Appalachians will work to keep most of the moisture falling as rain or a wintry mix. This includes the majority of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware during the day Wednesday.

Warmer Temperatures on the Way

While this storm will bring about some degree of travel disruptions to the impacted area, a stark warmup is in store for the latter part of the week. A mass of warmer air will move in behind the clipper as the jet stream inches up to the north.

You can expect the mercury to increase by as much as 25 degrees above the norm for early December for a large portion of the central Plains, northern Rockies, and beyond. For instance, Rapid City, South Dakota is forecast to see a high that hits the mid 60s on Wednesday. This compares to the historical average on this date of about 40 degrees.

The Midwest will begin to warm up on Thursday and Friday, spreading from west to east with readings that hover about 5 to 15 degrees above the seasonal norm. This will mean forecast highs in the mid 50s for Chicago and the 60s for Kansas City.

It will take until Friday for the East Coast to get in on this warmer weather. The clipper storm will take time to move out of the region and will bring up cooler air through at least Thursday. The increase in the temperatures will not arrive in this part of the nation until the end of the work week.

However, it will likely be a beautiful Saturday for places such as New York City with highs that reach the upper 50s, equating to about 15 degrees over the historical average. Saturday will be the better weather day in the Big Apple as rain is forecast to make an appearance to close out the weekend on Sunday.

This moisture is going to move in as a major storm system sets up over the Midwest by the end of the week. Stay tuned as this forecast becomes more clear.

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