Arctic air is forecast to plunge south.
Over 95 million Americans are on alert for brutal cold temperatures in the coming days as arctic air plunges south across the country — and a storm this weekend is expected to dump snow on several major cities along the East Coast.
Winter storm watches and warnings are in effect from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast on Sunday.
New York City is currently forecast to pick up around 4 to 6 inches of snow on Sunday afternoon and into the evening, which could make this the biggest snowstorm in nearly three years for New York City.
Boston can expect to see a rain-snow mix Sunday afternoon that transitions to all snow in the evening, eventually picking up 4 to 6 inches.
Washington, D.C., is expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of wet snow, which is expected to harden into ice in the overnight hours. A snow accumulation of between 3 to 4 slushy inches is expected in Philadelphia.
As for timing, the bulk of it will be during the afternoon and evening on Sunday, with much of the Interstate 95 corridor from Baltimore to Boston seeing the potential for slick roads.
Meanwhile, an extreme cold warning is in effect in North Dakota, northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin through noon on Tuesday. This alert is for wind chills as low as -50 degrees. Those temperatures can cause frost bite to exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes.
Some of the wind chill temperatures are expected to be hit -30 degrees in Minneapolis, -20 degrees in Chicago, below zero in New York City on Tuesday and into the 10s in Houston early this week.
Another winter event is set to begin Monday night and continue through Tuesday along the Gulf Coast from Texas to the Florida panhandle.
The Gulf Coast is expected to see snow and ice on Tuesday followed by a hard freeze leading to significant travel disruptions.
Snow accumulations and ice accumulations are still uncertain since the event is still a few days away, but significant disruptions to travel are expected – especially Tuesday and Wednesday.
More than 4 inches of snow are possible for a large chunk of central and southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas and southern Mississippi and Alabama.
The highest totals are expected to be north of Interstate 10.
An area from Lake Charles to Alexandria, Louisiana, could see more than 6 inches of snowfall Tuesday.
Ice accumulation from freezing rain is also possible along the coast, including in Houston.
This will likely cause widespread travel disruption, and potential power outages.
This is in combination of very cold temperatures for this region, as wind chill temps dip into the 10s through the middle of the week.
Icy conditions may last in this area, which isn’t used to this type of extreme winter weather, through mid-week.
As the cold snap progresses into the south, there will also be a winter weather potential in cities along the Gulf Coast that don’t often see frozen precipitation, including Houston and New Orleans.
Starting Monday night and continuing through Tuesday, there may be measurable snowfall in Houston, which could create numerous travel issues.
The last time Houston saw 1 inch of snow was back in 2021, but 2008 was the last time they picked up more than 1 inch of snow. New Orleans hasn’t recorded any measurable snow since 2009, and the city hasn’t topped 1 inch of snow since 1963.
It’s too early to determine if they’ll break that streak, but the chance for winter precipitation along the Gulf Coast is real enough that preparations need to be done this weekend ahead of the storm.
