Winter storm marching east, promise a snowy weekend for many

After a winter storm moved out of the northeast Thursday, leaving a glimpse of ice and snow and more than a few canceled school days, the next one smashed on the line into the west coast on Friday. By Saturday it will have risen east and blanket another strip of the midwest and northeast with winter weather.

This is the second winter storm in a week to cross the country, creating a dividing line of warmer rain in the south and colder snowy weather to the north – and a messy winter mix in between. Millions of people in cities like New York have been right along the dividing line, and with every storm that goes, another combination of messy winter rainfall may fall.

A dreamy snow may fall late on Saturday in New York City, but forecasters with National Weather Service in New York warned that gossip or even freezing rain could nose into the city, especially in coastal areas, after midnight on Sunday.

Earlier on Saturday, the storm is expected to dump heavy snow from Dakotas to the big lakes. Minneapolis, des Moines and Chicago are all in the path of the storm, though any deviation north or south can change the type of rainfall that falls in these cities.

Small shifts could significantly affect where the heaviest snow falls, said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist at National Weather Service. If hot air pushes further north, cities like New York could see more gossip and freezing rain instead of heavy snow.

Cities including Buffalo, Albany and Boston are far enough north that they will probably only receive snowfall. More than eight centimeters could accumulate across parts of Minnesota, New York State and New England by Sunday. Areas that are expected to reach more than eight inches of snow, and possibly as much as a foot, include Upstate New York, Northern Pennsylvania and New England, Mr. Pereira.

Areas further south, including Philadelphia and Washington, DC, are likely to encounter sleet and freeze rain.

As we look ahead, forecasters monitor the potential of another wave of winter systems next week. After almost a repeated pattern of the two winter storms this week, the next two storms could cause similar threats of more significant winter weather, including heavy snow, gossip and ice from the Ohio Valley to the middle Atlantic region, including Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.