The same storm system forecast to bring blizzard conditions to the northern Plains will create another type of hazardous weather in areas farther south while also bringing the coldest air of the season to many.
Published Nov. 8, 2021 2:11 PM EST | Updated Nov. 10, 2021 8:46 AM EST
The weather across much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States has been tranquil thanks to expansive high pressure bringing widespread sunshine and increasingly mild air. However, AccuWeather forecasters say this quiet pattern is the calm before the literal storm and may feel like a distant memory by the end of this week.
A multifaceted storm is predicted to strike the nation's midsection at midweek and deliver snow and high winds from the northern Plains into Canada. This same storm will also pack a punch from the central and southern Plains eastward through the end of the week, all while erasing what may be the last bit of warmth for many for a while.
The storm, which began to march into the West Coast from the Pacific Ocean Monday night, soaked areas from the Pacific Northwest to Northern California.
After losing some energy over the interior West on Tuesday, it will emerge in the Plains Wednesday and roar back to life. Drenching rain will soak areas from eastern Kansas to Iowa Wednesday afternoon as the storm takes shape. South of this region, gusty thunderstorms will develop along a strengthening cold front in Oklahoma and Texas.
As Wednesday progresses into Wednesday night, these thunderstorms will race eastward and also may expand northward as warmer and more humid air is drawn north by the storm, which will allow the storm to become more potent. The threat of gusty storms may continue farther east into Thursday as well, forecasters say.
Damaging wind gusts will be the primary threat from these thunderstorms, but depending on just how much warmth and moisture can be drawn north, there could also be a threat of isolated tornadoes as well. The storms will also likely be moving very quickly. AccuWeather meteorologists are warning that residents in places all the way from Dallas and Kansas City to St. Louis, Nashville and Jackson, Mississippi, should be on alert for rapidly deteriorating conditions.
The threat of severe thunderstorms is expected to wane by late Thursday, and the primary concern along the advancing cold front will become heavy rain. Soaking rain will ruin outdoor plans during Thursday afternoon and evening in much of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes and parts of the southern Appalachians.
By Friday morning, heavy rain is expected to reach the Interstate-95 corridor and may make for a more challenging morning commute from Washington, D.C., to New York City. Rain will arrive during the afternoon and may continue for the Friday evening commute in areas closer to Boston.
The dose of rain will be fairly progressive, moving in and out in any one spot over the course of just a few hours, but it can still be heavy enough to cause some localized street and poor drainage flooding.
Once the storms and rain have all moved on by the end of the week, all that will remain of the warmth that preceded it will be the memories. In metro areas such as Oklahoma City and Little Rock, Arkansas, midweek highs around 70 degrees Fahrenheit will be replaced by highs stuck in the 50s F. In cities such as St. Louis and Nashville, Tennessee, highs in the 70s F will be replaced with readings that struggle to get out of the 40s F to start the weekend.
New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., may also struggle to break out of the 40s F by the end of the weekend after experiencing temperatures in the mid-60s much of the week. Farther inland, places such as Pittsburgh and Buffalo, after also recording highs well into the 60s, may get snowflakes in the area before the weekend is over.
"This advancing cold front is expected to usher in the coldest air of the season thus far in the Midwest and Great Lakes," said AccuWeather Long Range Expert Paul Pastelok. "High pressure will then likely remain anchored in place, leading to well below-average temperatures in place well into the following week."
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