A weather 'roller-coaster ride' is coming to Northeast as snow closes schools
The wintry mix and rain sweeping across the Northeast continued Monday as another run of bad weather was set to hit the region later this week, meteorologists say.
The majority of the region saw any wintry precipitation flip to intermittent rain as temperatures crept higher during the day Monday, AccuWeather says.
As of Monday afternoon, all winter weather alerts from the National Weather Service in the Northeast had expired, as rain became the dominant form of precipitation.
The brief warmup will provide a couple days respite before the next wave of storms.
"A roller-coaster ride of a forecast is in store across the Northeast this week," AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. He warned of "the potential for an impactful storm late in the week into the weekend that can feature accumulating snow and very chilly air."
The good news is that rain across the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys into the Mid-Atlantic states and southern New England will provide some degree of drought relief across portions of the Northeast, AccuWeather said. But the forecast also says that flash flood warnings are possible. Buckingham said a snowstorm could develop Friday and Saturday along the East Coast.
Developments:
∎ Meteorologists projected that overall, weather in the Lower 48 states would remain mostly warmer than normal through Dec. 28, except for a few colder-than-normal days from Dec. 21-23.
∎ Some schools in western Massachusetts and Connecticut were closed Monday and others opened late because of snow.
∎ Some areas as far south as Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia awoke to snow Monday.
Details of weekend storms yet to be revealed
"Slight shifts in the expected storm track will play a significant role in the upcoming forecast," Buckingham said. "It is worth noting that there can be impacts to holiday travelers if the storm takes a track near the coast."
After that storm, look for "very chilly air" to grip the Northeast as Christmas Day approaches, he said.
West Coast could see more nasty weather
The Pacific Northwest, which dealt with strong storms last week that included a tornado Saturday outside San Francisco, also could be facing a lengthy run of nasty weather.
AccuWeather meteorologists warned that over the next week or more some areas of the northwest coast will "not escape the waves of rain and mountain snow as the overall weather pattern suggests that additional storms are likely."
Contributing: Reuters