An area of low pressure, known in meteorological circles as a cyclone, is expected to explosively develop over or very near New Jersey in the coming days, setting the stage for more than a foot of snow to fall in time for Valentine’s Day. With many days of data needing to be analyzed and understood by meteorologists and the computer software they use to create forecast, it is too early to say with certainty how much snow will fall and where, but not too soon to say there’s high confidence that some large storm will form.
Early next week, low pressure will move into the Mid Atlantic as high pressure builds in from the north. In the midst of this squeeze play, the cyclone at the heart of the disturbance will be intensified as an upper trough follows behind it. As precipitation breaks out in the central and southern Mid Atlantic late Monday into early Tuesday, rain will fall. In the northern portions of the Mid Atlantic, rain and/or snow will fall, with the precipitation type changing over to all-snow for those on the northern portion of the storm track.