Snow And Cold Sweep Through New England, Great Lakes | WeatherBug
Main Menu
Responsive menu icon

Snow And Cold Sweep Through New England, Great Lakes

November 12, 2019
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Brian Dillon
An arctic cold front continues to push out the remaining mild air across the Eastern Seaboard today, while lake-effect snows batter portions of the Great Lakes.

Snow continues to fall across portions of the Northeast U.S., Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley today as a sharp cold front pushes towards the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and New England. Accumulating snow mixing in with freezing rain/sleet/rain is impacting portions of northern Alabama and Georgia, while rain will transition to snow showers across the Mid-Atlantic this afternoon. Further north, across northern New England, periods of moderate to heavy snow are expected throughout the day.

Behind the system, west to northwesterly winds are ushering in frigid air and dropping temperatures into the single digits and lower teens across much of the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes.  As this cold, arctic air filters over the Great Lakes, periods of snow will occur due to the development of intense lake-effect snow bands.

Winter Storm Warnings and Advisories are in effect for portions of eastern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine through the remainder of today.  Cities such as Syracuse, Albany, and Plattsburgh, N.Y., Burlington and Rutland, Vt., Conway and Concord, N.H., and Portland, Augusta, and Houlton, Maine will see blustery conditions and accumulating snows throughout the day.  Additional snowfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches are possible along the Canadian border, with 2 to 6 inches from Albany, N.Y. to Concord, N.H., to Portland, Maine.  Untreated roadways may become slick skating rinks across portions of New England later this evening due to rain transitioning over to snow across Massachusetts, southern New York, and Connecticut.

Impressive snowfall totals across the Great Lakes have already been observed. Within Michigan, snowfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches fell across portions of southern Michigan, including Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, and Detroit. Further north, across the upper portions of the lower peninsula of Michigan, a stationary, lone lake effect brand battered cities just west of Traverse City, dropped an insane 33 inches of snow near Empire, Mich. Detroit saw the snowiest November day on record with 8.5 inches, smashing the previous record of 7.2 inches set back in 1932.  Further south, across Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio, 3 to 5 inches of snow fell. Columbus, Ohio received 2.1 inches of snow, which broke a record of 0.50 inches that fell in 1983.

As colder air sinks into the Ohio and Tennessee Valley and northern portions of the Southeast this morning, rain is transitioning over to a mixture of rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow in portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and western North Carolina. Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for cities such as Bristol and Knoxville, Tenn., Charleston and Beckley, W.V., and  Asheville and Boone, N.C. Snowfall accumulations up to 1 to 2 inches possible as the rain transitions to snow with the colder air sinking south.

On Wednesday, high pressure slides into the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, and the remainder of the Eastern Seaboard, bringing drier conditions and plenty of sunshine. However, temperatures in the 20s, 30s, and 40s will hardly make it feel like November.