Hello, spring? What’s the holdup? Storms are walloping both coasts
In the East, the fourth nor’easter of the month will unleash rain, snow, ice and wind. California will see heavy rain and the threat of flash floods and mudslides.
A pair of potent storms will bring snow and cold rain to both the eastern and western USA on Wednesday, making a mockery of the calendar’s declaration of the first day of spring.
In the East, the fourth nor’easter of the month will unleash rain, snow, ice and wind across the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Portions of California will see heavy rain and the threat of flash floods and mudslides.
The heaviest snowfall in the eastern storm should occur across the higher elevations of the Appalachians and into portions of New Jersey, the New York City metropolitan region and southern New England, the National Weather Service said.
Philadelphia, New York City and Boston should pick up about a foot of snow, the weather service said. Some spots to the north and west of the metro areas could see up to 18 inches.
About 5 inches of snow is expected in Washington, which would be the city’s heaviest snowfall of the season.
Airline delays are likely because of de-icing operations, poor visibility and a low cloud ceiling. A number of flights could be canceled, AccuWeather said.
A full-fledged blizzard was not expected. Winds will not be as strong as the earlier nor’easters, AccuWeather said, so coastal flooding will not be as much of a problem.
Widespread power outages are possible.
Officials cautioned against unnecessary travel Wednesday afternoon and evening, when it could snow at a rate of as much as 4 inches an hour. It wasn’t clear where the heaviest snow bands might develop.
In the West, a strong storm will soak much of Southern California over the next several days, the National Weather Service warned. The storm was expected to dump several inches of rain on coastal areas and inland through Thursday. Flash flooding is a concern, given recent burn scars from wildfires near the Los Angeles area, the weather service said.
Flash flood watches have been posted for areas burned by wildfires last year.
Santa Barbara County ordered about 30,000 people to evacuate Monday, including the community of Montecito, where 21 people were killed by a mudslide in January.
“There’s a tremendous amount of moisture coming up out of the Pacific,” weather service meteorologist Mark Jackson said.
Heavy rain and possible flooding were forecast to hit low elevations of the Sierra Nevada. Locations higher than 8,000 feet should see very heavy snow, welcome news for the state’s snowpack that supplies millions of Californians with water later in the year.
In the South, the system that spawned the severe storms and tornadoes in Alabama late Monday was forecast to move across the Florida peninsula, where more severe weather is possible, the Storm Prediction Center said. Coastal areas of Georgia and the Carolinas could also see some storms.
The vernal (aka spring) equinox, which marks the moment that astronomical spring begins, was at 12:15 p.m. ET Tuesday. Meteorologists, who define the seasons differently, said spring began March 1.