Winter storm to move across U.S. but the South will see record high temps

A winter storm will bring snow and icy conditions from the Midwest to the Northeast that will endanger travel, but the South will see record high temperatures this week — reaching into the 80s in some places, according to forecasters.

Starting late Wednesday and continuing into Thursday, wintry weather will bring light snow, freezing rain and sleet to parts of the Midwest to mid-Atlantic states, including Maryland, the National Weather Service (NWS) says. The main concern for people in those areas will be freezing rain, Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the NWS, tells NPR.

“There could definitely be some icy roads, especially from northern Illinois across central to northern Indiana,” Oravec says, adding that the southern and lower Michigan peninsula will also be impacted. “Early Thursday is probably some of the worst driving conditions, especially as you get into the mid-Atlantic region.”

Small amounts of freezing rain accumulating on the road “can lead to dangerous travel,” the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center warns.

“Accumulating sleet can be strenuous to shovel and be treacherous to both drive and walk on. Be sure to check conditions before venturing out and drive slow,” the agency says.

Temperatures are expected to be below freezing in some upper parts of the U.S., which could lead to ice accumulation in places impacted by the storm. Northern Indiana, northern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland and West Virginia could see a tenth to a quarter inch of ice, according to Oravec.

The storm system is moving across the U.S. quickly, with freezing rain and sleet forecast to change over to all rain by Thursday afternoon, he says. And while upper parts of the country will see typical winter weather, Southern states stretching from Texas to South Carolina will see unseasonably warm temperatures.

“Record high temperatures are expected with numerous locations expected to see temperatures reaching into the 80s will be locally 20 to 30+ degrees above normal for this time of year,” the NWS said in an advisory Tuesday.

As the season shifts to late winter and early spring, there can be big differences in temperatures from northern to southern parts of the country, with more wintry weather seen further north, according to Oravec.

“It’s not atypical to have some warm weather in the winter. At the moment, there’s really no Arctic air across the country,” Oravec says. “Right now, the weather pattern is such that it is supporting the potential for warm weather across the South.”

The atmospheric river, columns of water vapor in the atmosphere, that has brought heavy rainfall and snowfall to parts of California will peak Tuesday afternoon and diminish. But another round is expected Thursday.

Winter weather will also impact those traveling to the Super Bowl, but the weather in the host city of New Orleans on Sunday will be pleasant.

“We’re not gonna have a repeat of that historic snowstorm,” Oravec says, referring to the January winter storm that dumped up to a foot of snow in the city. “If anything, it’s gonna be warm.”