Northeast: Snow, ice to cause slippery travel Tuesday into Wednesday

Not enough snow and ice will occur to bring down trees and power lines in this situation. Some people in northern New England were still without power on Sunday in the wake of the storm that hit just before Thanksgiving.

The wintry mix will follow only about 24 to 36 hours after temperatures climb into the 50s and 60s on Monday.

A shallow push of cold air will move in Monday night ahead of the precipitation.

According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ed Vallee, “Warm air trying to move up from the south will be forced to ride up over top of the shallow layer of cold air near the ground Tuesday into Wednesday.”

This process will cause some sleet and rain to break out from portions of northern Virginia, eastern West Virginia, and northern and central Maryland, during Tuesday morning.

Vallee added that wintry travel conditions will spread northward later Tuesday and Tuesday night.

Motorists are urged to travel with caution and allow extra commute time due to potential slippery conditions on Tuesday along I-66, I-68, I-70 and I-81, in the northern Virginia and northern Maryland swath. Temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s F near the ground will allow some of the rain to freeze on colder surfaces.

Farther to the east, along I-95, temperatures are likely to be warm enough to prevent black (clear) ice from forming on Tuesday. However, there can be a mix of sleet and rain in the swath from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Wilmington, Delaware, and Philadelphia for a time. Slippery spots may develop in these cities’ northern and western suburbs.

Some wet snow, sleet and rain will then spread into more of Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey as the day progresses on Tuesday. The wintry mix will stay east of Pittsburgh, but can affect Altoona, Harrisburg and Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The wintry mix will end in the southern areas, but will propagate northward later Tuesday and Tuesday night in the Northeast.

Snow, sleet and rain are forecast to occur in northern Pennsylvania to northwestern New Jersey, upstate New York and interior New England by Tuesday night.

While road surfaces and air temperatures may be too warm for ice to form on Tuesday evening around New York City, Boston and along the southern coast of New England, motorists and pedestrians should be alert for icy spots farther north and west.

Metro areas that could experience slippery travel Tuesday night include Scranton, Pennsylvania; Binghamton and Albany, New York; Rutland, Vermont; Worcester, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine.

Just enough of a wintry mix can fall to cause slow and slippery travel along parts of the New York Thruway and Massachusetts Turnpike and portions of the I-80, I-84, I-88, and I-91 corridors during Tuesday night. Temperatures in this swath during part of the precipitation event will range from the upper 20s to the middle 30s, before rising later on.

The wintry mix will then shift into northern Maine and neighboring Canada on Wednesday morning.

“As warmth overtakes the region, any wintry mix will end or change to plain rain from south to north later Tuesday into Wednesday,’ Vallee said.

Temperatures will continue to bounce around for the remainder of the week and are forecast to rebound into the 40s and 50s over much of the region by Wednesday.