Saturday storm brings steady snow north, mix across south

In and out in 12 hour span…

TONIGHT: Increasing Clouds. Lo 28. Winds SE 5 mph.

SATURDAY: Snow & Sleet, 2-5″ For Most. Hi 35. Lo 33.

SUNDAY: Snow Showers, Breezy. Hi 41. Lo 30.

Clear skies Friday afternoon formed the calm before the storm to occur on Saturday. Temperatures tonight drop into the upper 20s as much needed colder air for snow sticks around in the region. The arrival of the outer reaches of our storm will bring increasing clouds through the night. Winds should remain relatively light.

This storm will begin during the mid-morning hours tomorrow and the brunt of it will occur between Noon-6pm. By 10pm, the storm is done. It is a quick-moving storm that will put down a burst of accumulating snow, followed by sleet and even rain in southern and eastern areas before it wraps up during the late evening. It will bring plowable snow to parts of the region, but it will be manageable. Let’s break it down:

Snow will develop after 10am Saturday from the southwest to the northeast. By lunchtime, it will be snowing steadily for much of the region. However, sleet will likely already be mixing in for southern York & Lancaster Counties. The bulk of the storm will occur from Noon-6pm tomorrow with a steady snow for most areas, while southeastern areas will see sleet and even rain take over during this time. Very little snow accumulation is expected for areas across our extreme southeast counties. For most areas, this will bring a plowable but manageable snowfall of 2-5″ especially for the Cumberland Valley and Capital Area Beltway. Our northern counties are the ones that will see any kind of quicker accumulation that may result in totals of up to 5-8″. The storm will mix with sleet and rain Saturday evening for many in the east before it rapidly exits. By 10pm Saturday night, the storm is over. It will be a 12 hour storm with the brunt of accumulation taking place over a 6 hour stretch from Noon-6pm.

Here is the latest snow total forecast and storm timeline:

Whatever snow the region picks up won’t last long. By next week after a brief respite on Monday, another storm takes aim at the region on Tuesday. Lows Tuesday morning will be in the 20s and that means this next storm could start as a brief mix of snow and sleet before plenty of warm air rushes in and changes everything to rain. Most of the storm will be rain with highs near 50° on Tuesday. Up to 1″ of rain is expected at this time. We will keep watching this next storm as well. Stay tuned for updates about all of this as we head into the weekend.

-Meteorologist Jackson Chastain