Cold Front Brings Heavy Rain to East Coast and Late-Season Snow to Central Rockies

A large cold front stretching from Maine to Texas has brought widespread heavy rain to much of the eastern and central United States while producing a rare May snowstorm across the Central Rockies. The front pushed a swath of heavy rain from Arkansas to upstate New York early Wednesday, with the precipitation expected to reach much of the East Coast later in the day.

Some of those storms across the South could develop into severe thunderstorms later Wednesday morning, with a more significant threat developing Wednesday evening. More than 20 inches of snow have already fallen at higher elevations in the Central Rockies.

The main threats will be supercell thunderstorms capable of producing large hail and tornadoes beginning early Wednesday evening. A widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain could fall across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee through Friday. The rainfall is expected to provide drought relief for much of the region, particularly southern Georgia which is experiencing extreme drought.

Heavy rain was ongoing early Wednesday across the Ohio Valley and into upstate New York. Downpours will reach the entire northeastern portion of the Interstate 95 corridor by Wednesday afternoon, with a half-inch to an inch of rain possible for Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The rain is also expected to benefit much of the Northeast coast where drought conditions have been increasing.

Showers are forecast to clear overnight Thursday, with temperatures dropping 5 to 10 degrees below average across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through the weekend.

Heavy snow is expected to last through early Wednesday afternoon, with whiteout driving conditions still possible in some areas. Denver International Airport had recorded a little over 3 inches of snow by early Wednesday, with 1 to 3 more inches still expected.

The greatest accumulations will be in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado, where some of the highest peaks and passes could see between 1 and 2 feet of heavy, wet snow. Snow is expected to start to wane later in the day on Wednesday for the Rockies before the system completely pulls away early Thursday.

The sprawling weather system has already caused more than 200 flight delays or cancellations into and out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Additional significant air travel delays are possible in the eastern and central United States as well as in Denver.