Although the accumulated snow avoided much of Interstate 95 from Philadelphia to the south, the ongoing storm and nor'easter will cause heavy, traveling snow farther north and west, and New York area it can be a battleground of snow vs. rain, AccuWeather Forecasters continue to warn. For some areas in the Northeast, this event brings the heaviest snowfall in two years.
Those with travel plans on the roads, rails and skies this weekend should be prepared for weather-related disruptions as this fast-moving storm continues to produce periods of moderate to heavy snowfall across much of the central Appalachians of New England.
Accumulated snow is affecting about 60 million residents in the Northeast this weekend. Among those to be affected by the storm are hundreds of thousands of students returning to college campuses after the extended holiday break.
Snow wasted no time accumulating in parts of the central Appalachians by midday Saturday. Within hours, 6 inches of snow had fallen in places like Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. Keyser, West Virginia; and Vale, Maryland. By Saturday afternoon, snow fell at a rate of 0.5 to 1 inch per hour on Mount Pocono, Allentown and some of Philadelphia's northern suburbs.
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The snow quickly spread further north over the Appalachians and the northern mid-Atlantic Tier before spreading across much of New England Saturday night, where it will continue to fall through Sunday. Warm Atlantic waters, in the 40s F, will continue to play a huge role in the form of precipitation from New Jersey to Cape Cod, Mass. through Sunday, preventing or limiting snow.
As AccuWeather forecasters predicted, little to no snow fell along a line roughly following Interstate 95 from Washingtonto Baltimorewhile a wintry mix was noted for a time Philadelphia and central New Jersey.
Just north and west of I-95 in this area saw several inches of snow and a wintry mix, along with a reality check that the calendar has recently turned to a new year and a new month.
Across the New York metropolitan area, snow began falling Saturday afternoon before changing to mostly rain late Saturday afternoon. A few rain or snow showers will last through Sunday morning before reducing to just a few flurries by the afternoon.
However, just a few miles north and northwest of the New York metro area, colder air is likely to continue to hold the ground and lead to much heavier snowfall totals of up to 6-12 inches and locally higher amounts in parts of southeastern New York, western Connecticut and northern New Jersey.
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This will end up as a large blizzard from northeastern Pennsylvania to central New England, including Boston areawhere 4-8 inches are likely to accumulate around the harbor and heavier amounts near and west of I-95 through Sunday.
Among the cities that could get 6-10 inches of snow from the storm that extends through Sunday include ScrantonPennsylvania? AlbanyNew York; HartfordConnecticut? Rutland, Vermont; and ManchesterNew Hampshire.
A broad band of between 3-6 inches of snow extends from the border of Virginia and West Virginia through much of central and southeastern Pennsylvania, much of New York, central Maine and just inland from the southern New England coast.
Due to the storm's quick movement, it is highly unlikely that excessive amounts of snow will appear to rival some of the larger snowstorms that have hit the region. However, the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ snowfall for this is 24 inches, which is an awful lot of snow for any winter storm.
However, enough snow is likely to fall to bring the biggest single storm in two years to many locations such as State CollegePennsylvania? CaldwellNew Jersey? Danbury, Connecticut; and Boston. The last storm that brought more than 4 inches to Boston/Logan International Airport was on February 25, 2022, when 8.5 inches of snow fell.
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The same quick movement and last-minute strengthening of the storm will prevent long-lasting winds. Any coastal flooding will tend to be minor and brief along the New England east coast on Sunday. Gusty winds in the storm's wake may lead to light blowing and drifting snow late Sunday into Monday where rain or ice does not mix.
For those unable to travel ahead of the storm by Friday night, conditions will improve from west to east across the region Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, provided highways are not blocked with stalled cars and accidents that occurred during the storm from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning.
The period between the weekend storm and the next storm on deck it will be short. By Tuesday, the next storm will begin to affect central and southern Appalachia.
However, this next storm is forecast to track toward the Great Lakes and become enormous in size and important in power. Because of these conditions, a wave of warm air will lead to rain as the main form of precipitation across much of the Northeast. The rain will be accompanied by moist air and strong winds.
“The warm rain event next week will likely bring a rapid collapse of the existing snowpack to the ground below which is still wet from previous December storms,” DeVore said. “In turn, flooding of urban areas, small streams and even along some of the major rivers is a strong possibility in the region.” This flood threat can pose a potentially significant risk to life and property.
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In addition to the potential for heavy rain and flooding is the risk of damaging winds and regional power outages in the Northeast from the intense storm over the Midwest Tuesday through Wednesday.
Property owners and road crews may be able to help control flooding by keeping storm drains clear of snow piles during storm cleanup operations.
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