By AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Feb. 21, 2021 8:19 PM EST
February has brought a wild ride of wintry weather for most major cities all across the country, but yet another storm is bringing more snow to some to start the week.
Ice and snow from Texas and Mississippi to New York and Maine has led to millions without power and delays to COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Some locations are forecast to get a break from the wintry weather, but the northern tier of the U.S. will not be as lucky as a new storm is set to move in.
A storm began to take shape over Iowa late Saturday night and Sunday morning, bringing snow to parts of Nebraska, Iowa and northern Missouri.
In just a few hours, snow piled up quickly in Omaha on Sunday morning, accumulating up to 5 inches before 10 a.m. CST.
As Sunday progressed, the snow began to spread into Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Michigan.
By Monday, the storm will sweep across the Northeast, from southwestern Pennsylvania to New Hampshire and Maine.
"This storm will move relatively fast, helping to keep snow accumulations down when compared to some of the recent storms that crossed the country," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty.
The quick-moving nature of the storm is likely to keep most areas from seeing more than 6 inches of snow, including cities like Omaha, Nebraska and Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Boston.
However, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 15 inches is possible in lake-enhancement areas or along mountainous terrain.
Even with just a couple of inches of snow, slow-moving travel is possible on secondary roads and even some major interstates such as parts of I-80 and I-90.
Motorists, driving day or night, should exercise caution out on the roads. Snow can quickly cause slippery conditions and even reduced visibility, which could cause dangerous travel.
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"In parts of Pennsylvania and New York, it may only snow for a brief time, just a few-hour window," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller.
"However, despite snowing for just a brief time, it could be very heavy, and catch motorists in parts of the mid-Atlantic by surprise on their morning commute," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda.
Sojda warned a burst of heavy snow could arrive just early enough in the morning around Washington D.C., Baltimore and perhaps even Philadelphia, to create treacherous travel in the area for a couple of hours before changing to plain rain.
Arriving later in the day, a mix of rain and snow is also likely farther north along I-95, in New York City and Boston. With temperatures forecast to remain above freezing, no snow accumulation is expected.
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Another way this storm is different than the last few is in regards to the temperatures expected following the storm.
"Instead of another shot of cold air in the wake of this storm, a surge of warmer air will spread from the center of the country on north and east, bringing milder conditions through midweek," added Douty.
This warmer air could allow for temperatures in the central Plains to jump up as much as 40 degrees in just one week's time. In the East, some place could rise 20 degrees by Wednesday.
The milder air also means that locations across the South that were hit with multiple waves of wintry weather so far in February will be spared this time around.
Rain is anticipated in parts of Virginia and North Carolina, which were hit hard with at least three rounds of ice in just about one week's time. The drastic warmup plus additional rain could bring some localized flooding issues.
Following this storm and the warmup, there is still a chance for areas to see a brief wave of rain or snow. However, compared to earlier in the month, the eastern half of the country is likely to be less stormy for the end of February.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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