A potent winter storm system over the Northeast is bringing snow, beneficial rain and strong winds as millions of people prepare to travel ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday.
Most of New England and parts of the Northeast will likely only see beneficial rain from this event due to warm air surging in from the Atlantic Ocean, but the higher elevations and locations directly under the cold upper-level low-pressure system may see heavy snow.
Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Catskills of New York are expected to see the heaviest accumulations, with up to a foot piling up before the second half of the weekend.
How much snow will fall?
The FOX Forecast Center said impactful snow is falling in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, for residents above 1,000 feet in elevation.
“Now, what sticks out, of course, are those purples,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Craig Herrera said in reference to the forecast snow totals map. “Those are going to be portions of the West Virginia mountains up into portions of Pennsylvania. Of course, we’ll see that over the Poconos.”
Only a dusting to a few inches is possible across lower elevations, where air and ground temperatures are warmer.
‘High-impact winter storm possible’ in parts of New York
The winter weather alerts have expanded since Wednesday, with Winter Storm Warnings remaining in effect for areas of West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, while portions of Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky are also under a winter weather alerts.
“When you’ve got all that over portions of West Virginia, all that wind coming in from the west, banking up against the mountains, squeezing out the moisture, boom, you’ve got a whole punch in the way of snow,” Herrera stated.
The National Weather Service office in Binghamton, New York, warned of a potential “high-impact winter storm” in its forecast discussion Wednesday. On Thursday morning, forecasters again warned about the potential for heavy snow.
The NWS said there are strong signals that banding could move into Sullivan County in New York and Pike County in Pennsylvania and could track along Interstate 86 through the overnight hours toward Broome County in New York.
“Snowfall rates under the band have the potential to be 1-3+ inches per hour for several hours,” the NWS said.
Storm left blanket of snow around Great Lakes region
The storm system has been gaining strength since it developed over the Great Lakes region, and it has since started to pull in colder air from the north. That, in turn, allowed for snow to break out in parts of Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
Heavy snow began to push into major Great Lakes cities, including Chicago and Milwaukee, on Thursday morning, dropping visibility down to a quarter-mile during the morning commute.
A video recorded outside Indianapolis on Thursday morning shows the flakes flying through the area as winter weather began to ramp up.
While travel will peak next week, some people have decided to hit the roads and pack airports early, hoping to beat the holiday rush. AAA said a potentially record-breaking 80 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home this year.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it, too, was preparing for what could be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record and offered tips for passengers to help make traveling through airports as easy and stress-free as possible.
Badly needed rain will also fall
Forecast rain totals in the Northeast and New England should remain in the 1-2 inch range, although locally higher amounts of 2-3 inches or more are possible in some areas.
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“Given the drought, the rain along the (Interstate) 95 corridor is significant,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephen Morgan said. “Will we see more than an inch in New York City? I think there’s a pretty healthy shot over the next few days. Does it fall in one day? Maybe not.”
The precipitation is expected to help ease some of the record-breaking drought conditions and reduce the wildfire threat that has been plaguing the region.