Ah, March. It's the time of year in parts of the U.S. when the weather can trick you into thinking it’s spring one day, only to smack you in the face with sleet and snow the next.
Such weather whiplash is exactly what's in store for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Wednesday through Thursday, as an intensifying area of low pressure whips through the region just a day after record high temperatures were recorded in New York. On Tuesday, the thermometer hit 70 degrees Fahrenheit in Washington, D.C., and a record 65 degrees Fahrenheit at New York's Kennedy Airport.
See also: Forget the Polar Vortex: January Wasn't That Cold
New York City is likely to see temperatures swing from highs of 65 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday to highs in the low to mid 20s by Thursday, thanks to a powerful cold front associated with the storm, which will slash temperatures so quickly that a “flash freeze” is likely from Washington to Boston, with wet roadways suddenly turning into skating rinks.

Image: Weatherbell.com

Here is how the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office in Boston described the storm, which is expected to bring both rain and snow to that area: “The main concern is for a flash freeze as temperatures plummet into the teens and lower 20s. Roads may quickly freeze over as colder air quickly rushes into the region. A small snow accumulation may hide some of the ice.”
The cold front may even touch off a line of strong to severe thunderstorms from New York to Virginia, with the possibility of some damaging wind gusts and hail.
Strong winds on the back side of the storm will make it feel even colder, with wind chills in the single digits above 0 to the single digits below 0 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday morning. Assuming the cold comes to pass, such temperatures would be unusual for early to mid-March, when typical highs in New York and Washington are close to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Large temperature swings in short periods of time are frequently seen during March and April, when warm spring air masses collide with colder, drier air to the north. Unlike later in the spring and summer, the jet stream, which is a corridor of fast-moving air at high altitudes that helps steer weather systems, is still strong and draped across the continental U.S. This helps spark intense storms. In the summer, the Northern Hemisphere jet stream is weaker, and located to the north, across Canada.
But, as the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang blog said on Wednesday, this temperature swing - from the 70s to the upper 20s and low 30s, is particularly acute. "If we’re going to go from the 70s one day to wind chills in the single digits the next, this is definitely the month to do it. But even for March our incoming weather swing is rather extreme."
In northern New England, one to two feet of snow is expected to fall, benefiting ski areas as they head into the spring skiing season. The NWS office in Burlington, for example, is forecasting up to 20 inches of snow for much of the state, particularly central and northern areas. Heavy snow is already falling in Chicago, and more is expected in Detroit and Cleveland as the storm makes its way eastward.
Blizzard warnings were issued for Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y. due to the expected combination of high winds and heavy snow from Wednesday afternoon through the early morning hours on Thursday. The cold temperatures on Thursday and Friday mornings may break records, with forecast lows in the single digits below zero in some locations across New England.
The NWS in Buffalo issued a statement warning of dangerous travel conditions.
THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. VISIBILITY WILL BE DRAMATICALLY REDUCED WITH DEEP SNOW COVER ON ROADWAYS DURING THE PEAK OF THE STORM.
Once the atmosphere resets to winter, it may stick around for a while - with the possibility of a snow and wintry mix event from Virginia to southern New England on Sunday night and Monday.
And, to be filed under the category of "you've got to be kidding me," there is another potential East Coast snow event on the horizon late next week.
Winter clearly is not giving up without a fight. In fact, at least across the eastern U.S., it is winning.
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