A pair of quick-hitting snowmakers will race through the Midwest and Northeast during the final few days of 2011, causing more of a nuisance than severe disruptions.

The first snowmaker, officially deemed an Alberta clipper, will track from the northern Plains to the Great Lakes today into Thursday before reaching the Northeast.

The second will take a slightly more southern track through these regions a day later.

Far from evolving into a repeat of the late-October historical snowstorm, each clipper will instead only be capable of producing up to a few inches along its northern edge.

“Each can also generate a few hours of gusty winds along with the precipitation,” stated AccuWeather.com Expert senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

Such a swath of snow is likely to accompany the first clipper from southern Saskatchewan to northern Michigan to southeastern Ontario.

Places from the higher terrain of Pennsylvania to coastal Maine (not including the I-95 corridor from Baltimore to New York City) have the greatest opportunity of picking up a few inches from the second clipper.

The first clipper will begin its journey in the northern Plains today.

Before reaching the Northeast, the latter clipper is on a path that one would expect Chicago to receive its greatest snow event so far this winter season.

However, cold air will be absent and snow that makes an appearance in Chicago on Friday will struggle to accumulate.

“The fast motion of the storms will prevent cold air from driving southward for very long into the U.S.,” explained Sosnowski.

Not until the start of 2012 will a new storm likely open the floodgates to the Arctic and allow bitterly cold air to invade the eastern half of the U.S.