Groundhog Day Storm Gathering Strength

The “Groundhog Day Storm” is beginning to take shape across the Southern Plains and will soon overspread much of the Central U.S., Ohio Valley and Northeast with heavy snow and a messy mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain over the next several days.

The storm will trek northeastward from Texas, through the Ohio Valley Tuesday into Wednesday bringing 1-2 feet of snow from Missouri through Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; and into Cleveland, OH.

Just to the south of the heavy snow line will be an area of heavy mixed precipitation which could lead to a significant and dangerous icing event in Dallas, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; Bentonville, AR; and Cincinnati, OH.

The storm will fizzle out as it reaches Pennsylvania and a new storm will form along the New Jersey coast, this will be the main precipitation event for the Northeast. While there will be an area of snow that moves through the Northeast on Tuesday, this is just the precursor of the events to come.

Late Tuesday night as the storm from the South dissipates and a new area of low pressure forms on the coast, heavy precipitation will engulf much of the Northeast. Cities including Albany, NY; Boston, MA; Concord, NH and Bangor, ME will see significant snow with 1-2 feet possible. To the south of the heavy snow, there will be heavy sleet and freezing rain, changing to all rain in the southernmost areas by Wednesday afternoon. Potential exists for a quarter to half inch of ice and possibly more. This will be a very dangerous situation as roadways will become slick and heavy icing on trees and power lines will result in power outages. Major cities included in the icing event are Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Baltimore, MD; New York City, NY; and Hartford, CT. See our updated storm map.

The pre-storm rush at big box retailers and grocery stores has already begun in most areas with the traditional staples of bread, milk and eggs flying off the shelves. Bird seed, rock salt, deicers and shovels have also been in strong demand. Store traffic could be disrupted in the affected areas anywhere from Tuesday through Thursday as travel becomes treacherous. Ironically, Groundhog’s Day is Wednesday and the storm should prevent Punxsutawney Phil from seeing his shadow, an indication of an early Spring. However, Weather Trends International advises strongly against using a Groundhog's shadow for your weather forecast; we suggest you visit  www.wt360.com for your local forecast.

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