At a Glance
- Snow will blanket parts of the Plains and Upper Midwest through Saturday.
- The snowfall will create hazardous travel conditions in some areas.
- Strong winds will follow the storm in the Great Lakes Saturday.
Winter Storm Atticus will spread heavy snow into the Plains and Upper Midwest, and could produce damaging winds in parts of the Great Lakes before the storm is over Saturday.
This is the first winter storm to be named by The Weather Channel this season. It marks the latest in the season the first winter storm has developed since the naming process began in winter 2012-2013.
(MORE: How Winter Storms Are Named)
Thursday, Atticus delivered Salt Lake City its first measurable snow of the season, one of the longest waits for their first snow on record.
Denver finally picked up its first measurable snow of the season on Friday morning with a 0.3-inch dusting. That crushed the Mile-High City's previous record (Nov. 21) for its latest first accumulating snow on record.
So far, up to 6 inches of snow was recorded in California's Sierra, up to 16 inches of snow was estimated in the mountains of northern Colorado, and totals from 6 to 8 inches have been reported in parts of eastern Wyoming, southern South Dakota and northwest Nebraska.
Winter weather alerts have been issued by the National Weather Service from the Rockies to northern Michigan. Winter storm warnings have been issued for most of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area.
Travel is already, or is expected to become hazardous because of snowy conditions in these areas.
Timing the Snow
Friday
Snowfall will gradually taper off in the Rockies, and spread eastward from South Dakota, Nebraska, and southern Minnesota into northern Iowa, central Minnesota, northern and central Wisconsin and northern Michigan through Friday night. Snowfall could be heavy at times, especially in the Upper Midwest.
The snowfall could lead to a challenging Friday afternoon commute in the Twin Cities.
It will be warm enough for mainly rain into Friday night as far north as Lower Michigan and thunderstorms into the Ohio Valley and the South. Strong to severe storms packing damaging winds gusts and some tornadoes are possible from parts of the Ohio Valley into the lower Mississippi Valley.
(MORE: Winter is the Fastest Warming Season in Much of the U.S.)
Saturday
Lingering, but diminishing snow is expected in the western Great Lakes on Saturday.
Snowy travel can be expected especially early Saturday from Nebraska into northern Iowa, central and southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern and western Michigan.
Strong winds will also spread across the rest of the Great Lakes, including lower Michigan, northern Ohio and western New York. Wind gusts over 50 mph or even 60 mph could be strong enough to trigger power outages and cause some tree damage in these areas.
High wind alerts have been issued by the National Weather Service from parts of Lower Michigan to northern Ohio, the northwest Pennsylvania lakeshore, western, central and upstate New York.
These alerts include Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and Rochester, New York.
In a Friday morning forecast discussion, the NWS-Buffalo, New York, office wrote, "This system has all the hallmarks of a high impact wind event for our region."
These strong winds blowing along the length of Lakes Erie and Ontario Saturday are also likely to trigger lakeshore flooding along the eastern ends of the lakes. NWS-Buffalo said water levels could rise up to 2 feet above flood stage at Buffalo, which could trigger significant lakeshore flooding.
These winds will also likely trigger a seiche similar to what happened Monday, a sloshing of the lake where lake levels are low along the west end near Toledo, but, as mentioned above, higher than normal along the east end near Buffalo.
Otherwise, much of the East, including areas as far north as New England and Quebec, Canada, will see rain. Thunderstorms are possible in the Southeast, and a few of those could be strong to severe.
How Much Snow?
At least 6 inches of snow are likely from northern Nebraska and southern South Dakota to northern Iowa, southern Minnesota, central and northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan.
Lighter accumulations are expected north and south of this zone.
In the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, the greatest totals are expected near and south of the downtown area, with somewhat lesser amounts in the northern and northwestern suburbs.
(MORE: What to Know About Snowfall Forecast Maps)
On the storm's warmer side, parts of the Deep South, Tennessee and Ohio Valleys could pick up over an inch of rain through Saturday.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
