Winter Storm Warnings Issued for 4 States, With 'Locally Heavy Snow' to Hit

Winter storm warnings are in place for parts of four states as snow showers and squalls continue over the Northeast and Great Lakes into Monday morning, before a cold blast of air brings "locally heavy mountain snow" to the central Rockies later in the week.

The National Weather Service has issued alerts for Montana, New York, Vermont and Washington, warning of treacherous travel conditions and reduced visibility after a northeasterly storm over the weekend moves out to sea.

In its latest forecast, the NWS said that ongoing heavy, wet snow associated with the storm—now centered over Maine—is expected to linger over New England, with flurries tapering off by Monday night.

Meanwhile, cold air descending southeast over the Great Lakes will facilitate lake-effect snow—a phenomenon in which cold air from Canada picks up moisture from large bodies of water to produce precipitation—downwind of the Great Lakes and into the Appalachian Mountains. The region has already seen several bouts of lake-effect snow this winter.

That chilly front will move across Western states, bringing mountain snow to the region by Wednesday. "Some light snow could brush the northern Plains near [the] Canadian border early Wednesday ahead of a clipper system," the weather agency said.

Regions of southwest New York bordering Lake Ontario are forecast to see an extra 3 inches of snowfall and winds of 45 miles an hour—creating areas of blowing snow—into Monday afternoon, after up to a foot of snow Sunday.

Counties in the north of the state are predicted to see additional accumulations of 4 inches along with 50-mile-an-hour winds, after as much as 14 inches of snow fell in the region Sunday. Strong winds are expected to bring down tree branches.

In Vermont, up to 8 inches of snow will bring the storm total for the state to between 10 and 18 inches—while winds of 50 miles an hour, which could cause power outages, are anticipated.

Over the next few days, multiple storm systems are expected to bring frequent rounds of precipitation to the Pacific Northwest.

The Cascades of northern Washington can expect up to 30 inches of snow through to Tuesday, along with winds of 40 miles an hour, while mountain areas in western Montana are set to receive up to 10 inches of snow into Wednesday, with up to 5 inches at lower elevations.

Earlier in March, a powerful winter storm from the Pacific brought in excess of 12 feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada range, as well as several feet of snow and blizzard conditions to higher-elevation regions of neighboring states.

It came after another winter storm made landfall earlier the same week before moving into the Intermountain West, bringing intense snowfall from Utah to Wyoming and Colorado.

Western states have already faced several periods of heavy snowfall so far this winter, having been subjected to a prolific series of atmospheric rivers that brought a rare blizzard warning for Seattle in early January.