Busy Winter Weather Pattern to Linger for Central and Eastern U.S.

The wintry weather pattern will continue to churn across the eastern half of the U.S. heading into next week. Another storm system is setting up to roar across the region by early next week, following a volatile end to the work week. Here is what you need to know about this evolving weather forecast for the Midwest, the Northeast, and beyond.

Late Week Storm Will be Followed Up with More Activity

It was a messy day Thursday for a large part of the Midwest and the Northeast. A widespread weather maker sent snow, freezing rain, and sleet across the region, snarling travel and causing power outages.

There were over 100,000 power outages reported by Thursday morning. Windy conditions coming in at the back end of the storm will raise the threat of power outages even further. The heavy snow primarily impacted the northern tier of the region with the highest snowfall totals recorded across the Adirondacks and the Green and White Mountains.

The warmer flank of the storm was in the bullseye for rain and thunderstorms. Hail the size of golf balls fell in the hardest hit areas of the storm activity that stretched from the Tennessee Valley over to the coastline of the Carolinas.

The biggest issues generated by the storm system were the sleet and freezing rain that formed in parts of the Midwest, the Ohio Valley, and the Northeast. The ice was the thickest across some areas of Pennsylvania and into eastern West Virginia, Maryland, and the northwestern corner of Virginia. Morning commuters were dealing with icy conditions on portions of interstates 76, 80, 81, and 90.

While the bulk of Thursday's snow fell across the top mountain peaks, some of the wintry precipitation also reached the heavily traveled Interstate 95 corridor. For instance, a few snowflakes reached as far as New York City early Thursday. Any snow that fell melted quickly the mercury climbed into the low 40s in the Big Apple.

Blustery winds moved in on the back side of the storm, bringing gusts of up to 40 mph in a zone throughout Wisconsin and Michigan. These high winds combined with the freshly fallen snow to limit visibility across some roadways in this part of the Upper Midwest.

Friday's top winds are forecast to roar across northern Pennsylvania and the Green and White mountain ranges. Top gusts could eclipse 60 mph.

Looking Ahead to More Winter Weather

Another winter storm is on deck for the weekend, giving residents just a short time to recover. This system will push to the east from the central states and to the Atlantic Seaboard late Friday night and into Sunday morning. The storm is likely to impact the same general area that the midweek system affected.

The weekend event will come along with a surge of colder temperatures dipping down from Canada. You can expect the mercury to fall as much as 10 degrees from the midweek values across the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast.

This will be followed up by yet another winter weather event that will impact the central and eastern U.S. early next week. Accumulating snow is in the forecast for the Plains states to the East Coast. Unfortunately for those weary of the winter weather, another storm will likely hit by the end of next week, continuing the busy weather pattern through the middle of the month.

The storms are happening with such frequency due to the cycle of Arctic air slipping to the south and east with each passing storm. The cycle continues to repeat itself, setting up the parade of storms that have been impacting the area to the east of the Rockies for the last week.

Timing of Early Week Storm