Quick-hitting snow, freeze-up to sweep through northeastern US

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

Updated Dec. 5, 2019 11:40 AM

After a major winter storm unloaded up to 3 feet of snow in the Northeast and snarled traffic earlier this week, blockbuster snowstorms are taking a break across the eastern United States. But, with about two weeks to go from the official start of the season, winter weather isn't on hold altogether.

A system will arrive and bring reinforcing cold that will make it feel more like the middle of winter late this week and into the weekend. An Alberta clipper storm will spread a swath of snow, followed by a quick freeze from the Great Lakes to the Appalachians and New England coast.

This type of storm system originates from western Canada and they tend to be starved of moisture; however, they can bring enough snow to shovel and make for slippery travel.

One such clipper storm will do just that across much of northern Michigan and southern Ontario during Thursday night, then across much of New York state, northern Pennsylvania and central New England on Friday.

"A general 1-3 inches of snow is forecast in much of this zone with a patch of 3-6 inches likely in part of central and eastern New York state," Dave Bowers, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said.

"Within this moderate snow patch, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 inches is projected," Bowers said.

On the southern edge of the storm, from western and central Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey, southeastern New York state and southern New England, rain and snow showers are in store, but a quick coating to an inch of snow can occur in some locations, especially over the higher elevations.

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A batch of cold air will follow the storm.

"Motorists and pedestrians should be on the lookout for black ice late Friday and Friday night," AccuWeather forecaster Dean DeVore said.

"In areas where it snows or rains into the afternoon or early evening, roads and sidewalks may not have enough time to dry out before wet surfaces freeze," DeVore added.

In the wake of the system, much of the Great Lakes and Northeast states will remain locked in with a colder-than-average weather pattern through Saturday.

However, big changes are expected as a surge of warm air will arrive for early next week in the Northeast. The warmup may bring the highest temperatures for the rest of the year and could lead to flooding problems where there is deep snow on the ground.

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