This week’s forecast calls for heavy winter coats, gloves, scarves, and possibly even snow boots. "The stage is set for a rapidly intensifying low pressure system to track up the East Coast today," the National Weather Service (NWS) reported this morning. The "potent cold front" will make way for "a reinforcing surge of arctic air" and "heavy rain, blustery winds, and strong to severe thunderstorms." Weather advisories have already gone into effect in some regions, where the threat of flooding and high winds is imminent. See if your city will be impacted by the "Arctic outbreak."
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Temperatures could drop 30 degrees below normal.
Prepare to bundle up when venturing out of the house this week, as below-average temperatures are expected in most parts of the country. "High temperatures the next couple of days will be roughly 10 to as much as 30 degrees below normal," forecaster Mark Miller said in an NWS announcement early this morning.
Despite the frigid chill in the air, meteorologists don’t expect any records to come out of this Arctic outbreak. However, folks in the Northern Plains, Upper Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley regions will get the brunt of the cold front, with “surging” arctic winds and “active lake-effect snows” beginning today.
The Midwest will experience strong winds and subzero temperatures, while regions to the east will experience a wintry mix of freezing rain and snow.
The East Coast is facing a "bomb cyclone."
“Widespread heavy rain and severe thunderstorms [are] spreading up the East Coast today and through New England into tonight,” per this morning’s NWS weather report.
The ongoing downpour is much needed after months of little to no rainfall, prompting drought advisories in the Tri-State area and Northeast. However, too much rain could cause more harm than good.
AccuWeather meteorologists are calling it a “bomb cyclone,” and have issued warnings of potential flooding and power outages. "Some rain will act like a giant firehose and organize into an intense north-to-south, west-to-east crawling squall with gusty winds," said AccuWeather chief on-air meteorologist Bernie Rayno.
The worst of it is expected to hit today along the Atlantic coast, but the storm could linger overnight and through tomorrow. AccuWeather urges people to “secure holiday decorations as well as trash cans, recycling bins, tarps and trampolines so they do not become airborne projectiles that can injure people or damage property.”
RELATED: This Winter Will Be Full of "Rapid-Fire Storms," Farmers’ Almanac Predicts.
Snow is expected to cover the Appalachians and Great Lakes.
A blanket of wet snow will accumulate along “the western slope of the entire spine of the Appalachians from south to north,” says the NWS. Conditions aren’t expected to let up until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, a swell of Arctic air will surge across the Great Lakes and “ignite intense bands of lake-effect snow.” NWS meteorologists say the Snow Belt could receive up to 24 inches of snow by Friday.
If conditions remain as intense as predicted, portions of northwest and western New York and northwest Pennsylvania could also see snow. As for the West Coast, “heavy mountain snow” is forecasted for the Sierra Nevadas but for today only.
