By AccuWeather meteorologist
A powerful nor’easter was taking shape off the mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday night. Forecasters say to “buckle up” as the winter storm will be a long-duration event for some areas and unload an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of up to 36 inches. The system will lash parts of the Northeast into the middle of the week with a slew of different hazards.
Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were in effect across the Northeast as snow and ice began breaking out across the region Sunday.
On Sunday night, New Jersey and New York City issued state of emergencies and New York City put travel restrictions in place to keep nonessential personnel off the roads.
Part of New England will face storm impacts into early Wednesday.
“This will allow for snowfall totals to really build up over large areas of the Northeast,” Rossio explained, adding that there could be an expansive area of 6-12 inches of accumulation.
“Even though the forecast is for nearly a foot of snow in some of these interior areas, it could be a little misleading in terms of what impacts to expect,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kerry Schwindenhammer said. “With the gradual nature of the accumulation in many of these areas, clean-up crews may be able to ‘keep up’ in a relative sense.”
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However, closer to the coast, forecasters warn it will be a much different story. “It will be very different near the coast,” as this region is expected to get hammered by the heaviest snowfall, Schwindenhammer said.
Pydynowski compared the predicted storm impacts for inland areas to coastal locations to the fable of The Hare and the Tortoise. “Many areas farther inland will be like the tortoise, slowly but steadily building up impressive snowfall totals. Coastal areas will be like the hare, with impressive snowfall totals piling up very quickly. We’ll see who ultimately wins the race and sees the highest report.”
AccuWeather meteorologists expect widespread snowfall totals of 12-18 inches where the heaviest snow falls. A bullseye of nearly 2 feet could target a small area just north and west of New York City, into the Pocono and Catskill mountains, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 36 inches.
The densely populated Interstate 95 corridor in the Northeast will be in the thick of the winter storm. Sunday snow led to slushy roads and slippery travel in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metro areas. Around 2-4 inches of snowfall had been recorded in these cities by Sunday night, with similar amounts farther northeast in Philadelphia.
