Winter to make a dramatic return in Northeast due to polar vortex

People from the Great Lakes to the northeastern United States may want to keep heavier coats and snow brushes handy as Old Man Winter and his buddy, the polar vortex, are not quite done with the region. 

AccuWeather Global Weather Center – March 24, 2022 – Cold air from northern Canada will move into the Northeast beginning this weekend. The polar vortex has weakened and is in the process of splitting, AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok explained earlier this week. When the polar vortex is in a strong phase, it tends to hover near the North Pole and the coldest air stays locked up near and north of the Arctic Circle. But, when the polar vortex weakens, there is often a southward discharge of much colder air in part of the U.S.

A piece of the polar vortex will set up shop over southeastern Canada this weekend. In this position, cold air will be funneled southward.

“A direct discharge of Arctic air will sweep into the northeastern quarter of the nation starting this weekend,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said, adding that the cold will persist into early next week.

Temperature departures of 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit below average are in store, forecasters say. Typical highs in late March range from around 40 F in northern Maine to the low 60s around the Chesapeake Bay.

At the peak of the cold wave early next week, high temperatures are likely to be in the 30s in Boston and New York City, near 40 in Philadelphia and the mid-40s in Washington, D.C., where the National Cherry Blossom Festival is underway. Highs may not even hit the freezing mark over the central and northern Appalachians for a day or two as the weather will feel more like early February.

Now that spring is here, it is getting late in the season for widespread snowfalls to occur. However, AccuWeather forecasters say the upcoming pattern will serve up some chances of winter precipitation.

Snow can cover grassy areas and even leave a bit of slush on some paved surfaces from time to time over the mountains this weekend and into next week. A few wet snowflakes mixed in with rain showers are not out of the question in parts of the I-95 corridor as well.

Winter to make a dramatic return in Northeast due to polar vortex (Full Story) >>

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