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Old man winter isn’t ready to quit, dumping large amounts of snow to the east and to the west, extending snow play for winter sports enthusiasts who couldn’t be happier that wintertime is lasting just a little longer this year.
During the overnight hours of Thursday into Friday morning, the northeast will receive a heavy spring snowstorm that will affect at least 11 states.
The largest snowfall will occur over most of the state of Maine and the northern half of New Hampshire, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). In Maine, Bangor is forecast to receive between 8-12 inches, and areas to the north could receive between 10-16 inches.
The overall range of snowfall for Maine is expected between 2-16 inches.
Other areas of the northeast and upper midwest are expected to see mixed precipitation that could also translate into some snow accumulation. A wintry mix is forecast for northeast Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, Michigan, northern and eastern Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
There’s lots of snow throughout the West in several states. The spring storms that brought snow along the Sierra and Western Cascades in both California and Nevada is continuing to deliver today.
On Tuesday, mountains throughout California saw significant snowfall, even in Southern California.
As a snow enthusiast, you’ve done what it takes: Got the SUV best suited to tackle slick highway roads and tough off-road trails. You’ve got all the right snow gear and equipment.
Best of all, mother nature has given you a late-season gift by dumping lots more of the powdery white stuff so that you can get your snow play on. But then here come the folks that are always shutting down the party – the police.
As lots of California mountains saw significant snowfall, law enforcement knew that snow enthusiasts were eager to take advantage of it. The cops immediately posted signs reminding the public that snow play is prohibited due to the state’s lockdown order because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Even though people would be outdoors and the sporting activities would be likely to give them significant physical distancing (i.e. social distancing), authorities are not taking any chances.
These snow play prohibitions come as very bad news for skiers, snowboarders, and other winter sports enthusiasts. All that snow and nowhere to go, as everyone in California will miss out on Mother Nature’s late-season gift this year.
Forecasters have been concerned that several of the Great Lakes are on track to set record water levels, and now, Lake Michigan has broken its high-water level record during March.
It marks the third straight month of that Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes have broken their previous records for high-water levels, including Huron, St. Clair, and Erie.
Engineers are concerned that if this trend continues, both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron could set the highest levels ever recorded since measurements began in 1918.
The greatest concern is that by July or August, levels could be so high that water will create erosion and/or overtake the beachfronts around the Great Lakes.
