Winter Weather Summary February 3,

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Winter Weather Summary
POSTED: February 3, 2004 8:59 a.m.


Storminess in the East and the West


A storm is heading northward through the Great Lakes; in the warm sector of this storm, rain will go over to snow and flurries today. On the cold side of the storm, primarily in northern Indiana through Michigan, there'll be 1-3 inches of snow; 3-6 inches likely on parts of the Upper Michigan peninsula, and in northern lower Michigan.

In the meantime, we see a low, or storm forming along the Carolina coast. This will eventually take over as the main system affecting the Northeast. It will track to coastal New Jersey this evening, to near coastal Maine by tomorrow morning. There is no lack of moisture, nor upper dynamics; the corridor from the northeast West Virginia mountains, northward through central Pennsylvania, to central New York and northern New England will end up with at least 6-12 inches, even if sleet and freezing rain mixes in for a time. As you head out of the mountains, into the piedmont areas, sleet and freezing rain mixing with the snow will keep the accumulations down some, but obviously make for very difficult travel. In the coastal plain, it will be primarily rain and drizzle. The major cities, such as Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia will encounter icing problems for awhile, especially in the western suburbs, but end up as mainly rain. Mixed precipitation will not get to Boston until later in the day or tonight.

A strong storm has come on to the West Coast; the central and southern Rockies will be affected by this storm. The heaviest snow will be in northeast Nevada, and in northern Arizona, with 6-12 inches of new snow in the next 24 hours or so. There'll be 3-6 inches of new snow in parts of northern Nevada, in the Wasatch, and in northern New Mexico and central and western Colorado; 1-3 inches in the Sierra, northwestern Nevada, much of the rest of Utah, and in the high plains of eastern Colorado. The snow in the Sierra to the Wasatch will be this morning; it is primarily this afternoon and tonight in Colorado, New Mexico, and northeastern Arizona.