A major snowstorm and potential blizzard is set to run along the East Coast beginning Friday night that could bring as much as 2 feet of snow to New England and disrupt cities stretching from Virginia to Maine.
About 65 million people were under winter alerts as of sunrise Friday, stretching from South Carolina to New England. These included Blizzard Warnings in a nearly continuous stretch from Virginia to Maine. These are the first blizzard warnings most of the East Coast has seen in four years.
The latest projections come as major forecast models finally came into better agreement early Friday, predicting a storm track closer to the coast resulting in increased snowfall forecasts for all locations from Washington to Boston.
On Friday, a cold front is expected to bring light to moderate snow to portions of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. This snow is not associated with the nor’easter.
By Friday night, the snow associated with the intensifying coastal storm was expected to begin along coastal areas in the mid-Atlantic and spread north, increasing in coverage and intensity. Winds will also increase as will the risk for coastal flooding.
Saturday continues to be the highest impact day from New York to Boston with the heaviest snow coinciding with the strongest winds, gusting up to hurricane force at times. Snow will end by mid-day for New York and during the evening hours for Boston.
By Sunday, all snow will be off the Maine coast by mid-morning but gusty winds could cause blowing snow throughout the day.
As of mid-day Friday, more than 1,800 flights within, into or out of the United States had been canceled for Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, with major east coast cities seeing the most cancellations. Boston’s Logan International Airport had nearly 250 cancellations, while New York City airports John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia had 185 and 157 cancellations, respectively. New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International airport had 170 cancellations.
The highest snow totals will be across extreme eastern Long Island, eastern Massachusetts and coastal Maine. Southeast Massachusetts, especially, is where up to 2-3 feet of snow could fall. This is also where the strongest winds will be and where power outages will be most likely.
Washington will see light snow starting Friday night and a total of 1 to 3 inches is expected. Philadelphia will likely see a little more with 4 to 8 inches of snow expected. New York could see as much as a foot with wind gusts up to 50 mph. Boston will be the heaviest hit city on the East Coast with between 18 and 24 inches of snow expected.
In addition to the nor’easter, the dangerous cold gripping much of the East, including all the way down to south Florida, will also be a major weather story this weekend.
The next arctic blast of air will affect the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast beginning on Friday and lasting through Saturday, where high temperatures are forecast to be 10-20 degrees below average.
By Sunday, the cold air will spill all the way to south Florida where cities like Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami could experience their coldest temperatures in years.
With Miami’s low forecast to drop into the upper 30s on Sunday morning, that will be the coldest temperature they have experienced since December 2010.
Daniella Silva contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
