May Snowstorm Expected to Hit the Northeast This Weekend

A snowstorm in May? That will be the case for some of the Northeast and New England as they brace for a storm system that is set to clash with freezing arctic air (the polar vortex) this weekend. The storm could cause heavy snow in some areas, with heavy rain thrown in the mix as well along the I-95 corridor.

While the polar vortex usually only wanders south during the winter, bringing cold to parts of Canada and the U.S., this year it has decided to say a late goodbye before it breaks up. “The polar vortex didn’t do much the whole winter, but on the way out I guess it kind of sent a message: Just because I didn’t do much this winter, don’t think I can’t,” Judah Cohen, a winter storm expert for Atmospheric Environmental Research, told Newsday.

Snowfall is expected to hit 6 inches in places like New England, according to the Weather Channel. The last time New England saw snow like this in May was in 1977. Several temperature records are also set to be broken due to the cold and wind gusts will rip through several states.

This is a major change from the warmer weather that's had people outside even amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

“The unusually cold air mass from eastern Canada will be pulled southward down into the eastern U.S. behind the storm, resulting in widespread record low temperatures spanning as far south as Alabama and Mississippi on Saturday," the National Weather Service announced. 

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