Northeast just got hit by a historic snowstorm. Could a White Christmas be next?

A historic nor’easter, one for the record books, just buried portions of the Northeast and New England under record-setting amounts of snow.

The highest snow total was a tie between two cities, Newark Valley, New York, and Croydon, New Hampshire, both of which recorded a whopping 44 inches of snow.

Thanks to snowfall rates that at times were as intense as 5 to 7 inches per hour, more than 160 reporting locations picked up more 30 inches of snow, while portions of at least 6 states saw a foot of snow or more.

The snow was so intense in spots, that two new state records might have been set for most snow in a 24-hour period.

Dec. 17, 202001:23

Binghamton, New York, ended with a remarkable 40 inches of snow placing the Dec. 16-17 nor’easter in the top spot for its biggest snowstorm on record.

Albany’s 22.7 inches was its eighth biggest snowstorm on record, and Boston’s 13.1″ was that city’s fourth biggest December snowstorm on record.

New York City picked up 10.5 inches of snow, creating dazzling and magical scenes around the city.

In fact, with that total, the Big Apple has now seen more snow so far this season than notoriously snowy cities such as Buffalo, Chicago and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

A weekend storm system will move from the Rockies to the East Coast from Friday through Sunday, but this storm won’t be as strong as the other more recent ones.

On Friday, the storm system will produce 6 to 12 inches of snow over portions of the Rockies. On Saturday, the Great Lakes will get some snow showers while heavy rain and storms will hit the South. On Sunday, there could be some scattered light snow showers in the Northeast and storms in Florida before the storm exits off the Atlantic coast.

Rain and snow amounts are expected to be minimal and low impact.

Beyond this weekend’s storm, forecast models are hinting at another potential storm affecting the Midwest and the Northeast next Thursday and Friday (on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). This storm is too far out in time to say with confidence who may get rain or snow, but meteorologists, as well as folks wishing for some holiday snow, will be watching this storm system to see if it’s more wet or white.

Even if next week’s storm does not come to fruition or produce snow, millions could still expect a white Christmas.

With anywhere from 10 to 40 inches of snow on the ground after the powerful nor’easter and cold temperatures expected to keep the snow around, many across the Northeast and New England will likely still have enough snow on the ground to enjoy a white Christmas to close out 2020.