Week's weather 'going to get real freaky'
By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY
A New Year's Day storm that snowed over parts of the Midwest and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights will continue tormenting some travelers today.
But the storm is just the beginning of what forecasters are calling a crazy week of weather that could bring 30-degree weather to Miami, followed by a Spring-like heating across the East and a potentially 100-inch snow storm in the Northwest.
"It's going to get real freaky," said Tom Moore, senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel.
People in the Great Lakes region awoke Tuesday to find a layer of snow that quickly developed from the overnight storm.
Near Detroit, snow fell at a rate of 2 inches per hour, and up to 4 inches per hour in some parts, according to the National Weather Service. The storm, which lasted about 7 hours, dropped more than 15 inches of snow in three counties around Detroit.
That snowfall caused a difficult morning commute for people heading home after New Year's Eve.
At Chicago O'Hare International Airport, about 150 flights were canceled before noon, according to Karen Pride, spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Aviation. Authorities reported no deaths or serious injuries on the roads from the burst of snow in Michigan, but they said there were many spinouts and minor accidents, according to the Associated Press.
Flight conditions improved over the day, and Moore said the storm will continue bringing moderate snowfalls to the Great Lakes region and the Northeast today.
He said airports in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Syracuse could continue having weather-related delays. The worst of the storm seems to have passed, he said, meaning travelers today shouldn't encounter too many problems in the air or on the road.
As that storm moves east a polar cold front will continue driving south today, bringing frigid temperatures as far south as Key West. Moore said Georgia and Alabama will see temperatures in the teens tonight, while Key West — the southernmost city in the U.S. — will get a rare night in the 40s.
That system will be driven out quickly, and by Thursday, an intense warming will begin to blanket the Great Plains and move east.
"We could have 50s in upstate New York," Moore said. "It's going to feel like Spring."
The biggest concern will be a potentially record-setting series of storms that will move into the Northwest by Thursday and extend into the weekend.
Computer models are showing the possibility of up to 8 feet of snow around Lake Tahoe and areas throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains that spans California and Nevada.
According to the National Weather Service's Reno office, the storm will bring up to 60 mph winds and will hit the hardest on Friday night.
"Travel will be particularly dangerous and life threatening … if not impossible … from the Tahoe basin northward," according to a statement released by the Reno office.
Originally Posted by packinpatland
My part of NE.........................rain.
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