Back-To-Back Storms Bring More Winter

A pair of winter storms will blanket parts of the northern U.S. with snow and ice through Saturday from the northern Rockies to the Great Lakes and parts of northern New England as a reminder that April can still deliver wintry weather for some.

Fortunately, neither of these back-to-back systems will come anywhere close to the ferocity of last month's record-setting blizzard. But they could still have impacts on travel into the Easter holiday weekend.

(MORE: March Had Everything But The Kitchen Sink)

Winter Alerts

This isn't an April Fools' joke. Winter storm warnings, and even an ice storm warning, have been issued for parts of the upper Midwest just hammered by last month's blizzard, including parts of Minnesota into northern Wisconsin.

Forecast Timeline

Late Wednesday - Thursday

This is when the first winter storm kicks into gear, named Winter Storm Joseline by The Weather Channel.

By Thursday, a broad swath of snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected from parts of the Dakotas to Minnesota, northern and central Wisconsin and northern Michigan.

Friday

By Friday, the first winter storm will have spread most of its snowy, icy mess into eastern Canada. However, some snow, sleet or freezing rain is expected in parts of northern Maine and northern New Hampshire early, before precipitation could change over to rain.

Meanwhile, the second winter storm will take shape over the Northern Plains with more snow and ice. Friday night, that wintry mess will once again spread into the northern Great Lakes.

Saturday

The second winter storm will persist in the northern Great Lakes with snow and some areas of ice, though some warmer air could change some areas of freezing rain to rain.

Some freezing rain could once again also spread into parts of far northern New England Saturday night, but it may change to rain by Easter Sunday.

How Much Snow, Ice?

Snow

As we alluded to earlier, despite being two storms back-to-back, the sum of those won't produce anywhere near the totals of the blizzard in mid-March.

However, we do expect a swath of 6-inch-plus snowfall across parts of the Dakotas into northern Minnesota, far northwest Wisconsin and perhaps the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Far northern Maine could see snowfall approach 6 inches, as well.

This could make travel difficult on stretches of Interstates 94, 29, 35 and 90. Leave yourself extra time and be prepared in case any stretches of roads close for a period of time. The combination of wet snow and winds may also lead to some power outages and tree damage in some areas.

Ice

The map below shows areas that may see enough ice accumulation to make most roads slippery, for a time, particularly bridges and overpasses.

The combination of accumulating ice and winds may also lead to some tree damage and power outages in these areas.

What complicates this forecast, however, is that precipitation in the southernmost areas below may eventually change to rain, and ground temperatures are warmer due to the recent bout of spring warmth.

For now, the highest concern for accumulating ice in the Great Lakes is Thursday, then again early Saturday.

In far northern New England, that icing concern is early Friday, then possibly again early Sunday.

April Snow

You might be wondering how weird snow as late as April is.

The short answer is, "it's typical."

As you can see in the map below, the season's last snow typically happens in April across most of the northern tier, from northern New England to the Northern Plains.

In parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the Rockies, snow usually still falls in May.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.