4 winter storms of 7 days for the Midwest, northeast

A parade of winter storms continues into next week across parts of northeastern, midwest and plains, with the other of those expected to produce snow and ice this weekend.

First of these, named Winter Storm Freya by the Weather Channel, left a cut of ice across parts of Appalachians, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Plains, but relatively easy snow collection Wednesday to Thursday.

(MORE: Why the weather channel names winter storms?

W eekend storm is next: The second of these, called Winter Storm Garnett at the Weather Channel, spreads its snow and ice east of Rockies, beginning late Friday.

National Weather Service has already released various winter storm alarms on the map below from the northern plains to the northeast.

T Imeline

-Friday: Snow spreads over the northern plains during the day into the upper middle west of the night, including Minneapolis-St. Paul.

-Saturday: Areas with snow, gossip and freezing rain will affect parts of the midwest and most of the northeastern, including areas affected by the previous winter storm Freya. A winter mix could reach Washington, DC and Baltimore metro areas during the day. Snow is spreading to New York City and Boston in the evening.

-Sunday: Snow and wind can continue early in New England before they end.

How much snow, ice

His weekend -winter storm is expected to produce some higher snowfall plains than we just saw the last few days with Freya.

T otals over 5 inches are probably in parts of northeastern, including New York City Tri-State and Boston. Some areas in the westeastern cut in Upper Midwest could also pick up locally higher totals over 5 inches, including Twin Cities and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

With a certain cold air in place, some Isaccumulation from the Ohio Valley to Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic can again occur, which in turn could make untreated roads dangerous and can lead to some tree damage and power cuts.

T wo More rounds of snow and ice are possible next week:

1. Later Monday to the beginning of Wednesday from the plains to Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. This has the potential to bring heavy snow to parts of the Interstate 95 Northeast Corridor Tuesday, including New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC

2nd late Tuesday to Thursday from Front Range of the Rockies to Mid-Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley and Northeast.

I am too early to tell where and how much snow and ice can accompany these two systems next week.

(Short: 7-day American rain/snow forecast?

These winter storm strips are not unusual: You might be wondering how strange it is to have four separate winter storms over a week.

It turns out that it is perfectly normal in the heart of “Winter Storm Season”, January and February.

As meteorologist Robb Ellis explained in this video, it is because air cold enough for snow and ice is most abundant and expansion in January and February. When the cold air is blocked in place and delivered from Canada, and the jet stream pattern sends impulses of energy over the cold air, you can get a storm after a storm.

We just saw the last month when four significant winter storms are traced across the country from 4 to 22 January, culminating with the story that creates Gulf Coast Winter Storm Enzo.

J ANUARY 2024 was even more active with six winter storms during the first three weeks of the month.

Hink of this as the winter storm manalog to the heart of the hurricane season when there are sometimes four active tropical storms or hurricanes at once in the Atlantic area in, e.g. Mid-September.

C Pecker back with us at Weather.com for forecast updates during this active winter pattern.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at Weather.com and has covered national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bisar weather is his favorite topics. Reach out to him on BlueskyAt X (formerly twitter) and Facebook.