Though not the greatest snowstorm ever to strike the Northeast, the swath of snow which did fall across the Lower Midwest and particularly the Northeast was enough to set new daily snowfall records. As much as 18 inches fell Boston’s 6.4 inches was a record for December 17.

It’s been a cold and snowy December from the Plains to Northeast but relief is on the way as a new trough develops over the heart of the nation. That setup means a Southeast ridge and southwest winds pumping mild air up the East Coast. A large swath of snow cover (outwith New England) will likely be gone by next Monday.

Temperatures yesterday morning started well below zero throughout New England with many below -10 at dawn, helped greatly by a solid 12+ inch snowpack. The combo of deep fresh snow cover, clear skies, light winds and arctic high pressure in place was the perfect conditions for the coldest night of winter. It hit -33 at Island Pond, VT for the coldest so far over the Northeast.

Northeast snow cover as of yesterday.

Northeast lows yesterday morning.

This healthy fresh snowpack will shrink significantly later this week as warm SSW winds begin to run up the coast as a new trough sinks south over the Plains.

How warm?

Where there’s little or no snow at the moment, Richmond, DC up to Philadelphia, there’s a good chance at seeing 70 in DC, mid-60s Philly this weekend if not a little before but where there’s snow, Trenton, NYC, Hartford up to Boston, the warm-up will be slower but even here, 60 in possible in NYC, possibly even Boston by Sunday when 30s today, 40s tomorrow and 50s Saturday erase the 6 inch snowpack. Sunday could see 60 in Boston but that depends upon how strong the SW wind gets. 50s will help shrink snow cover depth but won’t wipe it out across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Temps shouldn’t get out of the 40s here with snow keeping the lower atmosphere cooler.

Check out the ECMWF difference in 850mb temps between today and Sunday afternoon.

108 hrs (Sunday)

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While it’s a warm weekend coming up in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast, it will be very cold back west over the Upper Midwest with temps remaining in the -0s at the same time we could be seeing low 70s as far west as Pittsburgh, PA.

Check out the temperature difference between North Dakota and Virginia this Sunday.

With that type of thermal gradient, you know there’s a storm system in between and that will be the case this weekend.

Ohio Valley Severe Threat/Biggest Snowfall Yet St Louis, Chicago

We have a pretty extreme weekend of weather coming up regarding temperature contrast as well as heavy snow, flooding rain and even severe weather.

The ECMWF shows a plume of moisture streaming northeast from Texas up into the interior Northeast, heavy rain and training thunderstorms pose a flood threat on the warm east side of the frontal boundary while a swath of snow will fall on the colder west side.

Severe weather is likely to break out over the Ohio Valley while Chicago may see it’s biggest snowfall of the season yet.

Here’s the latest ECMWF snow chart through hrs.

Big rains in the coming days!

Once the low and associated cold front sweeps through the Midwest and Northeast, the arctic siege returns with a bitter Christmas Eve. Could see it snow again up and down the I-95 corridor  as the front passes.

Check out these 850 temps by Christmas Eve… Cold Christmas day for sure over the Midwest and Northeast.

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Tags: Arctic, cold, snow, snowstorm, us weather