Truckers will hit moderate to heavy snow across parts of the Plains and Midwest later this week. It will be a fairly short-lived storm, likely beginning very early Friday, then fading Friday night.
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While most of the snow will spread across lower populated areas, it will impact sections of several major interstates including I-70, I-80, I-90 and I-94. As a result, some transportation slowdowns and minor supply chain disruptions are possible.
The quick-moving low-pressure system will dive down from southern Canada into the northern Plains and Upper Midwest. The system will dump a swath of snow from southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba all the way down to Missouri.
Totals will range from 3 to 10 inches, with the potential for some isolated totals exceeding 12 inches. Unlike many systems that hit this region, this one will not have super strong winds, which means drifting snow impacts should be minor. However, snowfall rates and overall amounts could delay drivers in some places such as Bismarck and Fargo, North Dakota; Fergus Falls, Minnesota; Watertown, South Dakota; Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; as well as Kirksville, Missouri. For now, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Omaha, Nebraska, are on the fringes of the potential impact zone.
The storm will head to the Southeast this weekend, followed by the mid-Atlantic and Northeast late Sunday and Monday. The vast majority of computer model guidance has indicated the development of a major winter storm developing in these regions.
This storm could produce a large area of freezing rain and icy conditions Saturday and Sunday, in addition to heavy snow, across the Southeast. As the storm travels up the East Coast, it may intensify rapidly, turning into a strong nor’easter late Sunday and Monday. This would result in a large area of heavy snow and powerful winds across portions of the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast.
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Since this potential storm is still several days away, there’s debate on the precise timing and location of the heavy snow, ice and strongest winds, but it looks increasingly likely that this storm will be a major disrupter to transportation and business operations across a large part of the eastern U.S.
Follow updates on the FreightWaves website and social media accounts.
Major lanes of concern
• Interstate 29 from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Omaha.
• Interstate 35 from Des Moines to Minneapolis-St. Paul.
• Interstate 94 from Bismarck to Fargo.
• Interstate 80 from Mitchell, South Dakota, to Rochester, Minnesota.
• Interstate 95 from Walterboro, South Carolina, to the Maine-Canada border.
• Interstate 20 from Jackson, Mississippi, to Florence, South Carolina.
Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.
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