Rental cars at the Dulles International Airport

This is the second major snowstorm to hit the Northeast in two weeks and many seasonal snowfall records are being threatened.  Washington D.C. has broken their seasonal snowfall record with 54.8″ today.  This second storm has not produced nearly as much snow as the last one but the wind is definitely stronger with reports of 60 mph wind gusts.

I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of the blinding snow, relentless wind and zero visibility that has lead to many road closures and power outages from North Carolina to New England.  I came across this live streaming webcam out the U.S Capitol Building in Washington D.C. and it basically tells the story…horizontal heavy snow with take-your-breath-away winds.  Certainly not a day to be out and about.

Peace will eventually return to the landscape tomorrow as this storm pulls away from the Northeast.  The snow will end for most areas by tomorrow morning but the wind will continue to blow and drift the snow everywhere.  Big storms like this aren’t unusual for February.  This is the time of year when there is an increasing temperature gradient form north to south over the U.S aiding in strengthening low pressure centers.  This storm has been no different.  The central pressure of this blizzard was at 980mb this afternoon which is like a Category 1 hurricane.  Having two consecutive big storm in a weeks time is slightly unusual but this is how the large scale weather pattern has been.

Today’s satellite image of today’s blizzard along the Northeast coast.  The snowstorm Feb. 5-6 has been dubbed “snowmageddon”.

A slight straight west to east, moderate zonal flow developed across the continental U.S. allowing storms to slam into the west, continue eastward along the south, pick up Gulf of Mexico moisture as it does so and ride up the east coast.  The upper level winds have been favorable in keeping the last two storms close to shore.

The steering winds in the atmosphere, a.k.a the jet stream, have helped to push the last two storms up the Mid-Atlantic Region.  The areas colored in yellow, red and pink indicate where the strongest winds are aloft.  In today’s storm, the steering winds aloft have been southwest to northeast along the coast.

Another storm has entered into the Desert Southwest.  Like the last storm, rain and snow will fall across the southern states Friday & Saturday but unlike the last two storms, this one will not impact the Northeast as it is forecast to progress well east of the Eastern Seaboard.  Good news for those still needing to dig out from the recent record snowfall.

There is a difference in the overall steering wind pattern this weekend.  Notice there is no curvature northward in the East but a straight west to east flow.  This pattern will help in steering this next storm out to sea.

Kristin Clark

WeatherNation Meteorologist