Earl Evleth

(State College, PA) - While any snowfall recently has been light, a
storm set to strengthen in the southern Plains will spread a swath of
plowable snow from the northern High Plains to the Ohio Valley Monday
into Tuesday. The Northeast will then be under the gun for a
significant amount of snow for Valentine's Day.

After the weekend ends on a mainly calm note across the eastern half
of the nation, stormy and wintry weather will impact areas from the
Plains to the East Coast during the first half of the workweek. The
culprit behind the snow, rain and thunderstorms, which has already
prompted Winter Storm Watches across the Ohio Valley, is the storm
that will make for an unsettled day across the Western states today.

As the clash of frigid air to the north with warm and moist air
pouring in from the south allows the storm to strengthen over the
southern Plains, the Midwest Regional News story discusses how a swath
of accumulating snow will spread from the northern High Plains to the
Ohio Valley on Monday. The Ohio Valley will then continue to see
snowfall at night into Tuesday as the storm slowly heads to the
central East Coast. According to our Winter Weather Center, up to a
foot of snow will impact places from northern Missouri to southwestern
Pennsylvania by the end of Tuesday.

Besides the interior, especially east of Lake Ontario, the Northeast
has generally been void of heavy snowfall so far this winter. This
will all change by Valentine's Day after the storm, which will rapidly
intensify once moving off the central East Coast, drops a significant
amount of snow over the region Tuesday night into Wednesday.

While AccuWeather.com will continue to finesse exactly where the
corridor of heaviest snow, which could total over a foot, falls, our
Winter Weather Center is warning residents of the Northeast to prepare
for numerous travel delays and school closures on Valentine's Day from
the storm. The storm's strong winds will whip and drift the snow,
creating near-blizzard conditions, especially over New England. Check
out the East Regional News story for the latest details on this
looming storm.

While another arctic blast will set the stage for the major snowstorm
across the Northeast, residents from Charlotte to Raleigh, N.C., can
breathe a sigh of relief as cold air will press into the Carolinas,
but the air will only be cold enough for a chilly rain, not another
ice storm.

The rest of the Southeastern states will also have rainy weather
underneath the warm side of the storm Monday into Tuesday, which the
South Regional News story discusses further. Thunderstorms will also
rumble over the Gulf Coast states. Our Severe Weather Center is
warning that the most intense storms will produce damaging winds and a
few tornadoes over western areas on Monday, then across northern
Florida and areas just to the north on Tuesday.

Following the passing of the storm, a dome of high pressure will once
again settle over the eastern half of the nation for the latter part
of the workweek. Brutally cold air and blustery winds will not only
grip the Northeast and Great Lakes, but also crank up the lake-effect
snow machine.