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Drivers facing wintry start to week in Northeast (with forecast video)

(Photo: New York State DOT)

Heavy snowfall

Heavy lake effect snowfall that started Sunday will keep roads slick Monday across parts of the interior Northeast.

Cold, northwesterly winds on the backside of a low-pressure system are flowing over the relatively warmer waters of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Abundant moisture will keep the snow coming all day in some areas Monday.

Places such as Oswego, Watertown and Lowville, New York, and other areas on the Tug Hill Plateau will likely see another 7 to 12 inches. This could impact travel on Interstate 81, where blowing snow will reduce visibility at times..


Areas a little farther inland, like Big Moose, Eagle Bay, McKeever, Old Forge, Atwell, Nobleboro, Northwood, Long Lake, Sabattis, Hoffmeister, Boonville and Wells, New York could see an additional 5 to 10 inches of snowfall.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a lake effect snow warning for the areas previously mentioned. The warning runs from late Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning. This is when the snowfall will be the heaviest and the winds the strongest. It will also pile up in northern Vermont through Tuesday morning.

More snowfall Monday morning will also hit locations like Syracuse, Ithaca, Oneida, Utica, Mohawk and Saranac Lake, New York, as well as portions of western Maryland and Pennsylvania. But snowfall won’t likely return to these areas later in the day.

Wild winds


The I-95 corridor in the Northeast will be free of snowfall, but high winds will be a challenge for drivers who are deadheading or carrying light loads. Crosswinds from the west and northwest could gust reach 50 mph in some spots from the Delmarva Peninsula to southern New England.

This includes Baltimore and Washington, D.C; Dover and Wilmington, Delaware; Trenton, Camden and Elizabeth, New Jersey; Philadelphia and Allentown, Pennsylvania; New York City; Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; as well as Boston. The NWS has posted a wind advisory for these cities and points in between from Monday morning until early evening.

SONAR ticker: OTVIW map

These are freight markets that have experienced increases in outbound volumes over the past week. This is based on the FreightWaves SONAR Outbound Tender Volume Index Weekly Change (OTVIW) map directly above. Increasing levels of outbound volume tenders are shaded white and blue. So many drivers could be heading into these high winds areas to pick up loads.

A potential snowstorm could hit the Rockies and Plains later in the week.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.

2 Comments

  1. Richard

    Thank you for this informative read. I faced the first snow in Duluth last week. But since I follow Climacell, I was prepared for it. IMO managing the weather is one of the more ardeous tasks for the drivers during winters. Will look for further posts like this.

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Nick Austin

Nick is a meteorologist with 20 years of forecasting and broadcasting experience. He was nominated for a Midsouth Emmy for his coverage during a 2008 western Tennessee tornado outbreak. He received his Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Florida State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Management from the Georgia Tech. Nick is a member of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association. As a member of the weather team at WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee, Nick was nominated for a Mid-South Emmy for live coverage of a major tornado outbreak in February 2008. As part of the weather team at WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Nick shared the Chattanooga Times-Free Press Best of the Best award for “Best Weather Team” eight consecutive years.