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Snow is expected to return to the Northeast, including parts of the New York City metro area, early next week, but there are forecast uncertainties after the system dumps snow in the Rockies and parts of the Plains this weekend.
Northeast Forecast Timeline
Precipitation is expected to begin as rain in the mid-Atlantic states as soon as Sunday night or Monday.
However, just enough cold air should then turn rain to snow beginning Monday night as strengthening low pressure arrives.
Snow may continue from southern New England into the mid-Atlantic states Tuesday before the storm exits by Tuesday evening.
(MAPS: 7-Day National Forecast Rain, Snow, Temps)
How Much Snow?
Typical of most systems in the East in winter, uncertainties including how fast the storm moves and its exact track make the snowfall forecast challenging. There’s also a lack of fresh, cold air for this system to work with, which could lead to more rain than snow in some areas.
The map below shows our current snowfall forecast for the Northeast. Both the placement of the snowfall and amounts could change over the next few days as computer forecast models narrow in on this system.
For now, expect a potentially snowy Tuesday morning commute in the affected areas of the Northeast. That could extend into the afternoon if the storm moves slower. Flight delays are also possible at the major Northeast hubs Tuesday.
(192-hours: Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)
Snow Drought
It will have been at least two weeks, if not longer, since it last snowed in what’s been another paltry winter of snowfall in the Northeast.
Boston, New York City and Pittsburgh each have season-to-date snowfall deficits of at least 15 inches through Feb. 8. New York’s 2.3 inches is just ahead of the record-low pace from one year ago, when only 0.4 inches had fallen.
Most stunning is typically snowy Syracuse, New York. Their 28-inch seasonal total sounds impressive, but that’s 55 inches – or over 4.5 feet – behind their average pace. It’s their lowest season-to-date total in 103 years, only 2 inches above their record low from 1920-21.
West, Plains Snow
Before this storm system gets to the East, it will wring out snow in the West, parts of the Plains and Midwest this weekend into Monday.
Below are the latest winter alerts issued by the National Weather Service.
Snow in the Rockies will continue into Saturday night and will also spread into parts of the High Plains Saturday, lasting into Sunday.
Parts of the Front Range from Wyoming to Colorado and New Mexico could pick up 6 inches of snow or more. That includes the Denver-Boulder-Fort Collins urban corridor. Some locally heavy amounts are also expected in parts of the Texas Panhandle. Expect snowy, slippery travel this weekend in these areas.
A lack of cold air will minimize snowfall accumulation farther east into the Plains and Midwest from Sunday night into Monday. Some spotty, slushy accumulations of about an inch are possible in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northwest Arkansas. That could lead to slippery travel Monday.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. His lifelong love of meteorology began with a close encounter with a tornado as a child in Wisconsin. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then a Master’s degree working with dual-polarization radar and lightning data at Colorado State University. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives.
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