An injection of cold air on the backside of a storm system will be potent enough to produce a swath of snow and slippery travel across the southern Plains Monday night through Tuesday.The cold plunge will cause snow to fall in areas that start out the week with high temperatures in the 50s and 60s F.Winter storm watches were already beginning to spring up across the region early Monday morning. “An area from the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma through western Kansas can expect slushy travel conditions overnight Monday into Tuesday morning,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.Precipitation is likely to begin in the form of rain in a majority of this swath. However, as temperatures drop to or below 32 F in the lower half of the atmosphere as Monday night progresses, a transition to snow is likely.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPSnow is expected to come down at a quick enough pace to overcome the warmth stored up in the pavement from prior mild conditions, leading to difficult travel conditions with snow-covered roadways.”As temperatures drop to near freezing late Monday night, slick areas are likely to develop on roadways and may hinder the Tuesday morning commute,” Gilbert said. “Ice is one of the more dangerous winter travel hazards as it may be difficult to spot, especially at highway speeds,” she added.A widespread swath of 1 to 3 inches of snow is likely from eastern Colorado through much of Kansas, the northern part of the Texas Panhandle and northwestern portions of Oklahoma.A potential accumulation of over 6 inches is possible on late Monday night through Tuesday morning. A small zone in southwestern Kansas and northwestern Oklahoma may be at greatest risk for such high totals.Dodge City and Liberal, Kansas, and Guymon and Woodward, Oklahoma, could lie within the zone of heaviest snowfall, presenting the greatest likelihood for shovels and plows.Schools delays and cancellations, as well as other disruptions to daily routines are possible on Tuesday morning.Around Oklahoma City, rain is expected to end as a period of snow and/or sleet late Tuesday or Tuesday night. There can be a slushy accumulation mainly on cars, grass and elevated surfaces, with any plowable snow expected to stay just north and west of the city.Any wet areas on roads and sidewalks that are not dried by a gusty breeze whipping in with the storm could turn icy as temperatures plunge below freezing on Tuesday night.As the storm unleashes drenching rain along the Gulf coast states Tuesday night into Wednesday, the wintry side of the storm may lose a bit of its punch during this timeframe.Still, portions of eastern Kansas, northern Arkansas and much of Missouri could experience some light snow or a wintry mix around the middle of the week. This includes around Kansas City, Springfield and perhaps St. Louis, Missouri.The storm is expected to run out of cold air by the time as it swings through the Southeast Wednesday into Thursday. Any snow will likely be confined to the highest elevations of the southern Appalachians by this point.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
