Winter Weather Returns to Upper Midwest and Northern New England Beginning on Wednesday

Winter is not quite done with the northern U.S. yet. Several rounds of snow and ice will push across the Upper Midwest and into the northern tier of New England beginning on Wednesday, creating slippery roads and raising the threat of power outages. Here is what you need to know about the return to winter weather for this part of the country.

Renewed Threat of Winter Weather by Midweek for Parts of Northern U.S.

While most of the U.S. is in the clear from winter weather as the calendar flips from March to April, a narrow swath of the Upper Midwest into New England will be under the gun for more ice and snow later in the week. Enough wintry precipitation will fall to trigger travel disruptions and the potential of spotty power outages.

The same storm system that is trimming the heat in the western U.S. will move into the Upper Midwest by the middle of the week. The energy associated with this storm from the Pacific will meet with a fresh wave of cold air diving down from Canada to support the development of wintry impacts.

The chance of snow and ice will begin on Wednesday across portions of Nebraska and South Dakota. The line of wintry moisture will move to the east-northeast overnight Wednesday and through Thursday, eventually reaching the northern Great Lakes and the upper reaches of New England. Heading over the Canadian border, parts of central Ontario and southern Quebec will also be in the line of fire for the wintry blast.

The most hazardous element of this weather pattern will be the chance of significant ice accumulation on power lines and trees. It typically takes just one-quarter of an inch of ice to cause widespread tree damage and power outages. Forecasters are warning that ice accumulation of this degree is possible in a zone from northeastern Iowa to the east into northern Maine. The zone of impacts includes the parts of northern Michigan that have already been hit by several feet of snow this winter.

A strip of snow is forecast to fall just to the north of where the ice causes issues. The areas most likely to pick up moderate to heavy snow include eastern South Dakota, much of Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

As is typical this time of the year, the composition of the snow is likely to be wet and heavy. The clinging nature of the snow will inherently weigh down trees and power lines, compounding the threat of power outages.

Unfortunately for the winter-weary region, another storm coming in from the West will hit the northern edge of the U.S. just in time for Easter weekend. This event will bring another chance of snow and ice for portions of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, northern Michigan, and northern New England.