Snow to sweep from Plains to Ohio Valley late this week

Following the outbreak of bitterly cold air through midweek, a fast-moving storm system will spread a swath of snow from the north-central Plains to the Ohio Valley spanning Wednesday night into Friday.

While snow will only last between 6 and 12 hours in any one location, the snow may come down hard and accumulate quickly on roadways and sidewalks, especially in areas that experience snow during the overnight hours.

The swath of accumulating snow may only be 100-200 miles wide, but areas within this swath could pick up this accumulation within a short amount of time.

“While this storm is not expected to become a significant storm by any means, it still has the potential to drop several inches of snow across a stretch from Rapid City, South Dakota; to Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; and Cincinnati,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Isaac Longley said.

Longley warned that this amount of snow is still enough to disrupt travel plans and lead to snow-covered and slippery roadways.

Snow will first spread into much of Nebraska and southern South Dakota on Wednesday night and spread eastward into Iowa and parts of Illinois and Indiana by Thursday afternoon.

It is in these areas that the system will likely be most potent and drop the highest snow totals.

“As much as 6 inches of snow can fall across parts of southern South Dakota, northern Nebraska and southern Iowa,” Longley added.

Since these areas will be hit by snow during the overnight hours, the strong March sun angle will not be a factor in helping thwart snow from sticking to paved surfaces.

How strong the system remains by Thursday night and Friday is still uncertain at this time and depends on how quickly an area of high pressure shifts out of the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic during this time.

A weaker high pressure system that departs more quickly would allow accumulating snow to reach southern parts of the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians.

However, a stronger high pressure system would cause snow to quickly dissipate and lose its intensity due to its running into drier, more stable air east of the Midwest.

RELATED: 
Road conditions, poor visibility in Missouri amid winter storm 
Cute little dog is determined to move through deep snow 
How much longer will Arctic air remain entrenched in Midwest, Northeast?

In the worst-case scenario, a couple of inches of snow could pile up on portions of interstates 64, 70 and 75 in Ohio, northern Kentucky and southern Indiana on Thursday night before spreading into the central Appalachians and parts of Maryland on Friday.

It is unlikely that snow would accumulate on roadways east of the Appalachians in cities such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C., on Friday given temperatures above freezing and a sun angle equivalent to early October.

Regardless of timing and snowfall amounts, the biggest issues from this system should occur on secondary roadways, bridges and overpasses that typically remain a few degrees cooler than interstates and more heavily traveled roads.

A much stronger and more foreboding storm system will follow on the heels of this one, bringing the potential for heavy snow to the northern Plains and a severe weather outbreak to the Deep Souththis weekend.

Download the free AccuWeather app to stay up to date on the latest expected snowfall amounts in your area.