Impending snowfall to cover the northeast this weekend

A storm sending snow to the Ohio Valley on Friday night will bypass the swath from Philadelphia to New York City on Saturday, but may still swing northward along the Atlantic coast during Saturday night.

A press of colder, drier air is likely to have enough influence to prevent a heavy snowfall for much of the Northeast this weekend. However, parts of the region are still in the running for accumulating snow.

Snow will first spread from Nebraska, Iowa and northern Missouri to southern Illinois, southern Indiana and northwestern Kentucky on Friday. Up to a few inches of snow may accumulate on non-paved surfaces in this swath. Roads will be mainly wet during the late morning and afternoon hours.

During Friday night, snow is forecast to fall on central and eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio then spread to West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, western Maryland and northwestern Virginia.

Since the snow will fall at night and early Saturday morning in these locations, roads may become slushy and slippery. Several inches of snow are in store for the mountains. In this portion of the Appalachians, enough snow may fall to break tree limbs and cause sporadic power outages.

Some rain and wet snow are forecast to spread across the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore and Philadelphia by Saturday morning. However, temperatures may remain above freezing over much of this zone and roads are likely to be mainly wet. There may be enough wet snow, rain to cause some airline delays from time to time.

During the day Saturday, the potential for accumulating snow will be weighed with the effects of the April sun in eastern Virginia, eastern Maryland, Delaware and southern New Jersey.

If the snow manages to fall at a moderate to heavy pace, it may accumulate. The best chance of an accumulation will be on grassy surfaces. However, if the snow remains light and intermittent, or is mixed with rain, then little to no accumulation would occur.

"While the storm is likely to remain weak enough to avoid a northward turn through the day Saturday, there is the potential for enough strengthening to allow the storm to turn northward along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts during Saturday night," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.

Depending on how much strengthening occurs, snow may be thrown back across the I-95 corridor from New York City to Boston and Portland, Maine.

Portions of Long Island, New York, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, have the best chance of accumulating snow in that scenario.

Unseasonably cold conditions are in store for the Midwest and Northeast on Sunday. While much of the Northeast will be dry and blustery, the next snow-maker will begin to overspread the Midwest.

Old Man Winter's final attempt at snow for much of the mid-Atlantic and perhaps southeastern New England may occur from Monday to Tuesday, depending upon the track and strength of the next Midwest storm.

Beyond early next week, temperatures are projected to ratchet upward to more seasonable levels.