Sleet and Freezing Rain Expected Tomorrow will Result in Travel Impacts

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Good evening everyone on this Sunday. We have another major winter storm looking to impact the region going into the day tomorrow. A low pressure system currently sitting out in the Atlantic is expected to track north during the day tomorrow, resulting in warmer air working into the region aloft. This warm air will melt the precipitation as it falls to the surface, however a cold pool of air at the surface will allow that precip to re-freeze as either freezing rain or sleet, going through the day tomorrow. This will make for very slippery roadways through the afternoon, and will continue to provide impacts through tomorrow night.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory over northwestern Aroostook, while the rest of the county has been placed under a Winter Storm Warning. The biggest concern with this system will be slippery roadways, as sleet and freezing rain will make roadways a sheet of ice. It’s advised that if you don’t have to travel tomorrow, please stay home, and if you do, please leave yourself plenty of extra time to get where you’re trying to go, and use extra caution on the roadways, as it will be hard to tell what surfaces are extra slippery.

Ice accumulation potential looks to be on the higher side. With a prolonged period of freezing rain possible, icing amounts could be up over half an inch of ice once this is all said and done over eastern parts of the county. This is major concern as a lot of trees across the county still have ice on them from Friday’s system, and this additional ice and weight could result in more down trees and power outages possible going through the day Monday.

Sleet accumulations will range between half an inch to as much as an inch in some spots. Keep in mind sleet occurs when snow is able to melt into rain in the upper levels of the atmosphere, but them re-freeze into ice before reaching the surface. These little round balls will bounce as they hit the ground, and make a pinging noise as they do so. Any accumulation of sleet will make the roadways extra slippery, so keep this in mind, and please if you can take advantage of staying home tomorrow, do so.

Snowfall with this system will be on the lower side. I think a few inches of heavy wet snow are possible on the leading edge of this storm early tomorrow morning. It doesn’t look like snow will last long going into tomorrow morning, as warm air quickly works its way in aloft, resulting in a quick changeover to sleet and freezing rain before tomorrow morning’s commute. While tomorrow is a holiday, some places will still be open, so please make sure to leave plenty of extra time to get where you’re going, and use extra caution on the roadways.

More details on the forecast can be found in this evening’s Weather on the Web Video Forecast. Stay safe out there!

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