Is a Northeastern “Blizzard of ’20” in the cards for this week?
By: Anthony Jay
Tags: USA, Winter, Weather, 2020, Snow

A crippling blizzard in 2016 brought the greatest 24 hour snow total in history to New York City, a staggering 27.5"! It also paralyzing most of the Eastern Seaboard.

After a mild and rainy weekend, the first winter weather of the season is set to arrive in many parts of the Northeast United States.

Since last week, weather models have been strongly showing potential for a Nor’easter storm next week. Colder air whisking down from Canada may combine with a coastal storm forming near Virginia by mid-week, setting the stage for a major winter storm in parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

In a year of extremes of all kinds, about the only thing that hasn’t happened in 2020 is a big Eastern U.S. snowstorm. We are entering the time of year when wintry weather typically begins to make headlines here, though typically big snowstorms tend to wait until January to happen on the East Coast.

But a “perfect storm” of atmospheric elements may converge on the Eastern Seaboard by Wednesday and Thursday, creating potentially near-blizzard conditions anywhere from Maryland northeastward into southern New England.

If everything comes together as it looks like it might, millions of residents in the Eastern U.S. may be in for a big Winter awakening, as most areas here saw little snow all of last Winter.

Weather Whiplash

Sunday sees Mild temps

After a rainy and mild Saturday, the Northeast will have one last day of mild temps with sunshine and temps nearing 60 degrees near the coast.

Small storm moves by Monday, bringing preview of what’s time come

A small and quick moving storm will move up from the South and quickly by the Northeast during Monday, as colder air also comes down from Canada.

Primarily rain will affect areas near the coast, with some snow and sleet in the interior. The rain may also end as snow or sleet at the coast, but only interior places will likely see significant accumulations.

Tuesday-Wednesday: “A perfect storm” of atmospheric elements should being to gather

The jet stream will gather strength, and combine with moisture and energy from the Gulf of Mexico to eventually form a storm system over the southern U.S.

Wednesday-Thursday: Nor’easter develops and threatens big cities with wintry weather

The southern storm should follow the jet stream and move near the Mid-Atlantic coast by Wednesday. There, it should combine with a cold High pressure center over Quebec to create an expanding area of wintry precipitation — mostly snow, but also some sleet and freezing rain on the southern edge.

As the storm moves slowly off of the coast, it will interact with the Gulf Stream offshore, potentially bringing very heavy snowfall sometime late Wednesday through part of Thursday to a large portion of the Northeast.

By Thursday, millions could be buried in deep snowfall

As the intense storm finally moves away sometime Thursday, millions of residents may be digging out from over a foot of snow, with potentially even higher drifts!

Storm’s path, intensity will determine who gets most snow

There’s still time for the forecast to change enough so that the heaviest snow area may shift, with some places nearer to the coast seeing more in the way of sleet or rain, and inland areas seeing more snow.