Daily Weather Pattern Discussion...What A Pattern!

Hello this is Junior Meteorologist Kyle Elliott with our daily weather pattern discussion...and by Sunday, the entire eastern third of the nation is going to be thrown into the grips of a wild weather pattern that should last for at least a week! Man, let me tell you, this upcoming week or two is going to be awesome as far as storms...and possible major nor'easters for the East Coast...are concerned. The first storm, as everyone well knows, is forecast to affect the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions Sunday through Monday as a low pressure system develops around Hatteras, NC, and moves northeast Sunday night and Monday. Latest guidance continues to nudge the storm further west slowly but surely, and I do believe given the factors that that trend will continue over the next 24 hours. Instead of the heaviest band of snow being in the I-95 corridor, I think it will set up in the Lower Susquehanna Valley through the Poconos and through western Massachusetts and most of Maine. Most locations from York, PA, through Scranton, PA, and Boston, MA, will see a general 3-6 inch accumulation...with 6-9 inches from about 150 miles southwest of Boston northward. Much is still up-in-the-air at this point as far as the weekend storm is concerned, but details will become clearer by tomorrow afternoon and evening. This first storm, in all reality, does appear to be the weakest of the three storms and the hardest to forecast. I am starting to try to get an early look at the 17th storm and beginning to sniff out what could occur with that storm. Here's what I've come up with so far: I think the 17th storm will be a mainly snow-to-rain event for anyone from the Appalachian Mountains eastward to the Mid-Atlanic and New England coastlines...with the heaviest snow falling in the mountains. From I-81 east through PA, a general 1-3 inches could fall with slightly heavier amounts across eastern NY, CT, and MA. That storm is still quite far away yet, though, so I don't want to get into any specific details at this point as we have the weekend storm to deal with first. After the 17th storm goes by, arctic air...which may be the coldest of the winter season so far...will flood into the eastern half of the country, setting the stage for another storm to ride up the East Coast around the 20th of the month. At this point, the 20th storm looks to be the biggest of the three and is the one I am most excited about right now. It appears to be the perfect solution for the East Coast to get a classic nor'easter...with cold air in place and a very strong low pressure system moving northeastward from the Gulf, the stage could be set for the biggest snowstorm since February of 2003 for the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. At this point, I see an all-snow event for the entire Megalopolis...with heavy snowfall and very high snowfall totals by the time the storm is all said and done. That is still very far out in the future yet and could almost still be considered HYPE...but the potential is easily more-than-there for the East Coast to experience a major nor'easter around the 20th of this month. There is even more cold air and storminess behind that 20th storm, but I'm going to stop there for now and once again turn my attention back to the 13th/14th storm this weekend and Monday. Right now, as I said, I think the I-95 will have a rain/snow mix to start turning to all snow by late Sunday night...with the heaviest snowfall occurring from the Piedmont of Pennsylvania to New York State through western Massachusetts and most all of Maine. So I will have more later as I analyze more information and get my thoughts organized, but that's about all I have for now...so hope ya'll have a great rest of your evening and I'll update periodically throughout the evening! If you have any questions or thoughts about any one of these three upcoming storms, please, feel free to e-mail me at akstormtracker17@yahoo.com or kyleae@earthlink.net! This is Junior Meteorologist (Storm Tracker) Kyle Elliott reporting for the AKStormtracker Forecasting Center, in High Anticipation Mode!