The weather pattern in place across North America will set the stage for damaging wind gusts and even snow squalls to impact portions of the northeastern U.S. on Wednesday. A strong upper-level trough will overspread the Northwest on Wednesday with ridging building over the Rockies and Plains. A positively tilted trough will amplify across southeast Canada and the Great Lakes with a very strong mid-level jet strengthening from the southern Great Lakes to the Mid Atlantic during the afternoon and evening hours. This will result in a rapidly strengthening surface low during the day which moves from the northern Great Lakes to the Maine coast.

This strengthening surface low will drive potentially hazardous weather conditions into the northeast, especially across northern Pennsylvania, southern New York, western Massachussetts, and northwestern Connecticut.

As the surface low strengthens across the eastern Great Lakes Wednesday morning, a cold front will also sharpen and become the focus for convection by early afternoon. According to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, limited moisture will result in weak to negligible instability and lightning will likely remain isolated. However, very strong winds in excess of 40-50 mph are possible, resulting  in some damaging wind threat with a loosely organized line of convection along the cold front during the afternoon.

As cold air wraps behind this system, there could also be snow and snow squalls across portions of eastern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and interior Maine.  While areas that see snow may only see an inch or two, up to 6″ is possible on isolated peaks in the northeast.