AccuWeather map, 11/8/21.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — Now that Halloween has passed and the clocks have turned back, many are seeing more and more of the traditional sights and sounds of the winter holiday season.
AccuWeather forecasters say Mother Nature may add to the growing winter feeling by contributing its own dose of wintery conditions to northern and eastern portions of the nation beginning late this week.
While forecasters are looking ahead to a wintry surge, it may not feel much like winter is on its way for the first part of the week. Temperatures this past weekend have surged past the 60-degree Fahrenheit mark as far north as Fargo, North Dakota. The normal high in Fargo this time of year is in the lower 40s.
Farther south, temperatures reached the 70s, with some spots even approaching 80. This mid-November warmup will spread eastward through this week. By Tuesday, highs in the 60s and 70s will be commonplace across the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic. However, forecasters say enjoy it while it lasts, as big changes are on the way during the second half of the week.
It will all begin to unfold Tuesday, as a storm bringing another dose of heavy rain and mountain snow to California speeds inland across the West. By Wednesday, the energy from this system will emerge in the Plains, and large storm will begin to take shape across the Plains. While the large scope of the storm can also cause severe thunderstorms to blossom farther south, a much more wintry scene will unfold to the north.
Forecasters are growing increasingly confident in a blast of cold and windy conditions, accompanied by at least some snow during the second half of the week. Forecasters also warn that an all-out blizzard is also still in the offing as well for parts of the Plains.
“One scenario involves the storm racing quickly through the northern Great Lakes into Canada, leaving behind less snow in its wake in the northern Plains and directing it farther north into Canada,” explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Jessica Storm.
However, in a second scenario Storm explains that the storm could stall in the upper Midwest, directing prolonged and at times heavy snow toward the northern Plains and upper Midwest. This includes places like Fargo, North Dakota, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and even Minneapolis.
Strong winds will also develop around the storm, helping to draw the colder air southward from Canada as well as creating blowing and drifting where snow does fall. Even where snow accumulations are less, wind gusts of 40-50 mph can cause extensive blowing snow and even blizzard conditions.
“In areas that feel the brunt of the storm, these strong winds could combine with a foot or more of snow to cause extensive disruptions,” Storm said. Forecasters say wherever this would end up occurring, travel would likely shut down for a time, and could occur across portions of major routes such as I-90, I-94, I-25 in the United States, as well as portions of the Trans-Canada Highway running along the north shore of Lake Superior to around Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Even as the storm winds down in the Plains by the weekend, the push of wintry weather will keep advancing. Lake-effect snow will likely break out to end the week as the rush of cold air advances eastward. Rain and snow showers may reach into the Ohio Valley as well.
While the snow won’t reach the Southeast, the chill will. Even locations along the Gulf Coast like New Orleans, Mobile, Alabama, and Tallahassee, Florida, could see high temperatures struggle to get out of the 50s on at least one day next weekend. Widespread frosts and even some freezes could also sweep across a large portion of the Southeast.
The cold will continue to advance to the East Coast and the potential for yet another storm along the coast, which could bring some of the first snow of the season to portions of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic may materialize at the end of the weekend or early the following week.
“A cold front will likely reach the East Coast by next weekend and possibly stall as low pressure forms and moves north along the front,” said AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
“This will bring sharply colder air behind the storm on the East Coast with a possible change from rain to snow interior sections of the Northeast, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Appalachians,” Pastelok added.
AccuWeather forecasters say those looking to put up holiday lights around the house or finalize any outdoor preparations for winter may want to consider doing so in the milder weather over the next few days, before the invasion of winter begins.
( AccuWeather meteorologist, contributed this report.)
