#northeast-snowfall

#northeast-snowfall

Thursday into Friday will see the best agreement in the forecast, with a fast cold front sweeping across northern Utah, leading to a significant drop in snow levels and strong winds. Snow will start dense, with snow-to-liquid ratios improving overnight.

But what, exactly, is a blizzard? A blizzard doesn't always mean "a lot of snow," though it can certainly bring heavy snowfalls, as this storm is expected to along parts of the East Coast. Rather, the National Weather Service defines it as a snowstorm with winds regularly above 35 miles per hour and "considerable falling" or blowing snow for at least three hours.

When I spoke with emergency management officials last year, they all mentioned the same frustrating scenario. People ignore storm warnings until the precipitation starts falling, then suddenly everyone rushes out at once. The roads become congested with anxious drivers, accidents spike, and stores run out of essentials just when people need them most. But here's what really gets meteorologists worked up about this pattern. Modern weather forecasting has become incredibly accurate, especially for major winter storms.

A clipper spreads into northern New Hampshire, western and northern Maine, Vermont, and southern Quebec Friday evening, peaks overnight, and lingers as lighter mountain snow showers into Saturday night. Snow levels generally stay from the surface to about 1,000 feet while it is snowing, so this is a mostly all-snow refresh for every resort in the region.

A high-confidence Friday afternoon through Saturday storm brings a solid shot of snow to much of New England, with improving snow quality as colder air filters in Friday night. Expect a brief period of denser, lower-elevation snow at the onset in the south and along the coast, then a trend to lighter, drier snow overnight as temperatures fall and snow-to-liquid ratios climb.

Many of us are riding the high of the recent major snowstorm wondering when the next big powder day will swing through. Unfortunately for most of North America, it looks like the snowy weather won't be returning anytime soon, or at least not for the next week. Meteorologist Chris Tomer 's Mountain Weather Update paints a rather sad picture for snowfall totals in North America between January 29th and February 5th.