Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
Expect a preview of winter in central Pennsylvania over the next couple of days, with the weather turning breezy and much colder tonight into Tuesday. Out in the upper Midwest, including Chicago, what’s predicted is not just a taste of winter. Instead, it’s a mouthful, with parts of that area, including the Windy City, under a Winter Storm Warning into Monday afternoon. Forecasters are predicting dangerous to impossible travel conditions due to intense lake effect snow, with rates in excess of 3 inches per hour. Localized total snow accumulations in excess of 12 inches, and northerly wind gusts in excess of 30 mph are expected, from north of Chicago and across the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, including South Bend. Snow rates will cripple travel, including during the Monday morning commute. Strong northerly wind gusts will lead to greatly reduced visibility, especially near the Lake Michigan shoreline. Periods of thundersnow will occur, as well, according to the National Weather Service. AccuWeather’s forecast is similar, with what it’s calling a travel nightmare setting up across the Chicago metro area and Great Lakes into the Appalachians. The early-season storm could drop up to an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 20 inches of snow over the next several days. AccuWeather expert meteorologists say near white-out conditions are expected, which will likely snarl air traffic — which is already experiencing cancellations and delays — and could potentially create a Monday rush-hour nightmare for drivers. The weather service is expecting a sharp variation in snow totals possible from the northern and western suburbs of Chicago to the southern suburbs, which will be highly dependent upon the wind direction and where the heaviest bands of lake-effect snow set up. Within the most robust bands, snowfall rates can exceed 2 inches per hour for a period of time, AccuWeather says. Farther south and east of the Great Lakes, accumulating snow will expand across southeastern Indiana, southern Ohio, central and northern Pennsylvania, and into the Appalachian Mountains. While some areas are projected to pick up a coating to perhaps an inch of snow, higher totals are expected in the elevated terrain from West Virginia into southwest Pennsylvania, AccuWeather says.
