Potential nor’easter could bring rain, snow later this week

Key Points:

• A potential nor’easter may impact the Northeast and Great Lakes late this week into the weekend, bringing cold air, snow, rain, gusty winds, and early frost or freezes for millions.
• Temperatures are expected to drop sharply, with daytime highs falling by about 20 degrees from Wednesday to Friday across a broad area from Chicago to Atlanta, and lows reaching the 30s as far south as the Florida Panhandle by the weekend.
• A low pressure system will develop over the Midwest by Wednesday, strengthening as it moves into the Ohio Valley and bringing rain from Georgia to Michigan, followed by another low forming off the Eastern Seaboard Thursday night, which may produce mixed precipitation including wet snow in parts of the interior Northeast.
• Forecast uncertainty remains high for Friday into the weekend, with some models showing the low close to the coast causing strong winds and coastal flooding from North Carolina to New England, while others place it farther offshore with lighter precipitation and less severe coastal impacts.
• Accumulating snow is most likely in northern New England, upstate New York, and the Appalachians, while major metropolitan areas along the I-95 corridor are expected to remain above freezing and mostly snow-free; lake-effect snow is also possible near the Great Lakes as cold air moves over warmer waters.