Intense storm to hit Upper Midwest, Great Lakes before moving to Northeast
Those in the Upper Midwest to the Great Lakes can expect to see an “intense cyclone” within the next 48 hours before the system travels to the Northeast, the National Weather Service reported Sunday. Heavy snow and blizzard conditions are expected to continue into Monday.
These blizzard conditions could lead to treacherous travel conditions and scattered power outages, the NWS warns. Millions of people are under winter storm warnings.
“Winter Storm Ezra,” as The Weather Channel called it, is rapidly gaining strength as it moves over to the Upper Midwest. It will move quickly through the Great Lakes on Monday until it reaches the north of Maine by Tuesday.
“Across the Midwest and Great Lakes through Monday, a powerful storm will take shape,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham. “The storm will bring risks for heavy snow, ice, severe thunderstorms, powerful wind gusts and heavy rain.
There is a “good chance the storm will undergo rapid intensification and become a ‘bomb cyclone,'” between Sunday and Monday, Buckingham added.
A storm’s central pressure has to go down at least 24 millibars over 24 hours to be considered a bomb cyclone.
How much snow could people see?
Across the upper Great Lakes, snowfall amounts could go over a foot — and along Lake Superior’s south shore, they could even get up to two. Three to 12 inches of snow may hit the Upper Midwest, such as the Twin Cities and Duluth in Minnesota as well as Green Bay, Wisconsin, per The Weather Channel.
Blizzard conditions will start to taper off in the morning hours, and snowfall will end for Minneapolis by the morning, though it will last into the afternoon for some areas of Wisconsin.
In the Northeast, freezing rain before a warm front will expand across the region before going eastward through New England Sunday night. There will be a mix of snow sleet and freezing rain in northern New England by Monday morning, The Weather Channel predicted, and then warmer air will turn it all to rain later in the day.
“An icy corridor is expected from the storm across portions of the Northeast and New England,” said Buckingham. “Currently, the zone of icing concerns is expected to span from northern and northeastern Pennsylvania through upstate New York and into New England into Monday midday.”
Some places in the Plains, Midwest and into the South and East this week could see temperatures decrease by 30-40 degrees, such as Chicago, Illinois, which had highs in the 50s on Sunday and St. Louis, Missouri, which had a high of 71. By Monday, both cities will be in the 20s, The Weather Channel said.
Minneapolis and Des Moines, Iowa, may also go below 20 degrees for their high temperatures by Monday.
The post Intense storm to hit Upper Midwest, Great Lakes before moving to Northeast appeared first on Straight Arrow News.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
