On this radar snapshot, taken at 10 a.m. EST on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, rain is depicted as green and yellow, while ice is shown as pink and purple colors. Snow appears in blue. (AccuWeather)
A storm that unleashed rain and ice over the Carolinas and parts of the mid-Atlantic to start Monday will spread a swath of heavy snow and an icy mix across portions of New England from Monday night to Tuesday, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. The storm will hit just days after a storm dropped 1-2 feet of snow on part of the region from Friday into Saturday.
The coastal storm strengthened from Sunday night into the midday hours of Monday, allowing it to pull in moisture and spread it well to the west across the Carolinas in the form of rain, sleet and freezing rain. A separate pocket of moisture developed along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts by early Monday with patches of drizzle, rain, ice and wet snow that persisted into the midday hours.
"As the main part of the storm moves north-northeastward just off the mid-Atlantic coast into Monday night, rain will become more extensive along the Interstate-95 corridor of the mid-Atlantic," AccuWeather Senior Storm Warning Meteorologist Brian Wimer said, adding that temperatures will rise and allow plain rain to fall.
However, a thin band of sleet and freezing rain can occur just north and west of Washington, D.C., to well north and west of Philadelphia and New York City for a time Monday night, forecasters say. Motorists venturing through this zone during their commutes may encounter changing road conditions with surfaces ranging from wet to icy and slushy. Roads that appear to be just wet may instead have a thin layer of ice.
During Monday night, most problems related to sleet, freezing rain and snow will have subsided in much of the New York City metro area. In areas west and north of Interstate 287 in New Jersey, the Hudson Valley of New York state and Connecticut, pockets of ice and slush are likely to persist into the first part of Monday night. The greatest risk of slippery spots will be in untreated areas, on bridges and in locations that typically remain colder due to a lack of direct sun during the day.
The main focus of the storm will be across interior southern New England and much of northern New England, AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.
"A quick transition from wet snow and sleet to rain is likely in Boston with only a small slushy accumulation likely early Monday evening, but in areas such as much of central and northern Maine and central and northeastern New Hampshire, a heavy snowfall is in store as the storm progresses," Benz said. Any spotty ice or a wintry mix at the onset of the storm along the southern coast of New England will also quickly transition to rain Monday night.
In much of northern New England and in interior portions of southern New England, the atmosphere is colder through a much thicker layer than it is across areas farther to the south in the mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas. A thicker layer of cold air can allow snow just as a thinner zone of cold air can lead to ice.
In these more northern locations of New England, a general 6-12 inches of snow will fall mainly from late Monday night into Tuesday. In part of neighboring northeastern New Brunswick, Canada, 12-18 inches (30-45 cm) is in store with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 24 inches (60 cm), where the storm will take aim from Tuesday into Tuesday night.
Snow will be the primary form of precipitation from Massachusetts to southern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine since the storm is expected to track offshore. Some mild air may allow rain to mix in for a time and in some areas, precipitation will change over to rain. Even with that changeover, a plowable snowfall is forecast in Augusta and Bangor, Maine, and Concord and Laconia, New Hampshire.
AccuWeather forecasters say motorists venturing northward along the New York Thruway and westward along the Massachusetts Turnpike, as well as along stretches of Interstates 89, 91 and 93 in New England and I-95 in Maine should be prepared for delays and hazardous travel from snow, slush and ice from Monday night to Tuesday.
Road surface temperatures were well below freezing in much of New England on Monday, due to the extent of cold conditions this past weekend. This will allow more snow to accumulate and more widespread slippery conditions.
The compact nature of the storm will tend to limit the extent of snow on its northwestern flank. Albany, New York, is likely to be on the edge of the snow zone, while cities such as Burlington, Vermont, should avoid the snowstorm altogether. Only if the storm becomes significantly stronger than expected would snow extend much farther to the northwest across eastern New York state and Vermont.
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A big surge of cold air is not forecast to immediately follow this storm, unlike most storms in recent weeks in the Northeast. For much of the rest of this week, the circulation around clipper storms traveling across the Midwest will help to keep the coldest air locked up in Canada and most of their snow well north and west of coastal areas of the Northeast.
However, there is some indication that a new push of Arctic cold air may coincide with the formation of a large storm later this weekend to early next week.
This potential storm, centered around Valentine's Day, could be the next snow producer across the region, but its precise track and impacts are still far from certain.
"The storm could end up bringing the next widespread threat of snow to the Northeast, unless a more eastward track well out to sea evolves or a track that hugs the coast," AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.
An out-to-sea track would spare the region from precipitation or bring very little in the way of accumulations, while a track that hugs the coast could bring rain or a wintry mix to the major I-95 cities. On the other hand, a track just offshore is typically the best setup for snow to fall along the I-95 corridor.
AccuWeather long-range forecasters released their 2022 spring forecast last week, and they say chilly air could allow even more chances of snow in the region perhaps stretching into April.
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