A very strong storm will form over the Southern Plains in the next 24 hours that will produce a major blizzard from Oklahoma to the Great Lakes and eastward across the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. Heavy rain and thunderstorms will result in flooding in parts of the Tennessee River Valley and the Gulf Coast. Snow, sleet and freezing rain will occur on Tuesday here in the NYC metro area with up to 12" in the far northern and western suburbs to 3 to 5 inches here in Manhattan. Lower amounts of snow and sleet will accumulate near the coast especially across eastern Long Island. A strong southern jet stream combined with bitterly cold Arctic high pressure moving southward across the Rockies will result in snow and sleet with very cold readings down to 10 degrees on Tuesday night in northern Texas including Dallas but temperatures will warm up in time for Super Bowl Sunday at Texas Stadium. The mixed precipitation will change to all rain as warm air advection aloft with temperatures rising to above freezing at the surface. This is a major ice storm for the Northeast that could bring down many trees and powers. More on this storm tomorrow.
George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, Inc. Our website is WrightWeather.com. George is also a meteorologist with Cablevision News 12.
