Spring storms to slam northern New England with heavy snow through Tuesday

Two storm systems moving through the Northeast early this week will pound parts of New England with copious amounts of heavy, wet snow several weeks into the spring season.

While May-like warmth graces the mid-Atlantic through Tuesday, a strong and persistent area of high pressure over east-central Canada will prevent the warmer air from surging farther to the north and keep the storm systems on a west-to-east course through southern New England.

There is still 1 to 2 feet of snow on the ground in the Green and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as across the northern and western parts of Maine.

The additional snow to come early this week, while serving as a late-season boon for the ski industry, will only add to the snowpack and increase the potential for flooding later this month or in May, when warmer air finally reaches New England.

Through Monday night, the first storm system will bring a wintry mix of snow and sleet to portions of northeastern Vermont and northern New Hampshire and an all-out snowstorm to a large part of Maine.

"A broad swath of 6 to 12 inches of snow is expected to target Maine, including around Bangor and Caribou, into Monday night," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff.

An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 16 inches is possible across parts of north-central Maine and eastern Quebec in Canada.

Snow in Portland, Maine, on Monday morning is forecast to accumulate a slushy inch or two, mainly on grassy surfaces, before changing over to rain by Monday afternoon.

Very few, if any, weather-related issues are anticipated in Portland for the Monday morning commute outside of wet roadways.

Despite the strong, April sun angle that oftentimes makes it difficult for snow to stick on paved surfaces, AccuWeather meteorologists are concerned that snowfall rates will be high enough to allow this to happen across central and northern Maine on Monday.

Download the free AccuWeather app to find out how much snowfall is expected in your community.

Although the snow will wind down later Monday night with a lull in the action expected on Tuesday morning, the second storm system will push a new batch of snow into northern New England on Tuesday afternoon.

The same areas hit with the highest snowfall amounts through Monday night could be targeted with the heaviest snowfall from Tuesday's storm as well.

Even though the highest snowfall amounts from Tuesday's system should be at least several inches below the highest amounts from the first storm, more widespread issues on roadways could be present since most of the snow should fall Tuesday evening into Tuesday night.

As colder air is drawn southward on the back side of the storm, rain may change over to snow as far south as southern Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as western Massachusetts and northern New York.

Anybody with travel plans across northern New England early this week should allow extra time to reach their destination and be sure to reduce speeds on snow-covered roadways.

The high pressure over east-central Canada early this week will sag southward in the wake of Tuesday's storm, keeping chilly air entrenched across New England and putting a temporary end to the springlike warmth in the mid-Atlantic.

After a dry but chilly middle part of the week, the powerful storm system set to bring howling winds, severe weather and a blizzard to the central United States during midweek will bring a return of warm and wet weather to the Northeast to end the week.