Heavy snow and strong winds are expected to hit some metropolitan areas in the northeastern United States this weekend. Additionally, millions of people are likely to be placed under a winter storm watch beginning Friday.
Forecasters forecast 8 to 16 inches of snow will fall in eastern Massachusetts, including Boston, and Rhode Island, combined with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour.
More than 5 million people in the region will be under a winter storm warning from Friday night to Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.
The snowfall
The storm is expected to form in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Georgia. It is then forecast to strengthen rapidly — in a process known as bombogenesis — overnight Friday and move up the East Coast on Saturday. Although, the details about its impact are not yet fully defined.
“This storm is likely to strengthen at a rate and intensity equivalent to only the most powerful hurricanes. So the high-end potential of this storm cannot be underestimated. But with northeasterly winds, as in real estate It all comes down to location, location, location,” said Citizen Free Press Meteorologist Brandon Miller.
Why limited details regarding the potential #winter storm Sat? Well, the average model error at this time range (3 days out) is over 150 miles! For example, where will the rain/#snow line setup? 150 miles could range from Cape Cod, MA to New Haven, CT. Hence, still too early pic.twitter.com/okCxprNAxV
– NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 26, 2022
Heavy snow and strong winds are likely to affect New England. “Which could lead to blizzards, scattered power outages and some damage,” the Climate Prediction Center warned Thursday morning.
Moderate to heavy snowfall can also be expected from New York to northeastern North Carolina. “But confidence in potential impacts is much lower,” the forecasters said.
The storm could dump up to 8 inches of snow on Philadelphia and New York City, while Washington could see up to 1 inch, according to multiple forecast models.
The dual threat of heavy snow and intense winds has the potential to create blizzard-like conditions in the Northeast.
A blizzard occurs when snow combines with wind gusts of more than 56 km/h for more than three hours and creates visibility of less than 400 meters.
There is a possibility of coastal flooding
It is still too early to anticipate the precise impact of storm and snowfall totals.
“The path of the storm remains uncertain. Which will have a direct impact on accumulations and where the heaviest snowfall occurs,” the Boston Weather Service Office said Thursday morning.
A “track farther from the coast will decrease the amount of snow, while a track closer to the coast will increase the amount of snow and if the low is close enough to the coast, a winter mixture will be possible for some sections of the East Coast (this seems less and less likely),” the New York office of the National Weather Service said Wednesday.
“We cannot rule out a turn to the west or even a more easterly shift with less snow,” forecasters said early Thursday.
In addition to gusts of wind and snow, coastal flooding can also occur in some places. “Significant coastal impacts may occur in the Northeast, including coastal flooding and beach erosion,” the forecast center warned.
The stronger the storm, the greater the surge of water along the coast.
“Coastal flooding is a concern thanks to astronomically high tides on Saturday,” explained the Boston Weather Service Office. “The combination of strong northeasterly winds and high seas will bring storm surge which, if it coincides with high tide, will cause minor to moderate coastal flooding.”
The difference in the timing of the storm, even as little as six hours, would make a big difference in the impact on coastal flooding and erosion concerns.
Different forecast models show different paths for the storm. Which makes it difficult to pinpoint what will happen, the National Weather Service said. Those discrepancies are largely due to each model using different methods to determine its forecast, Citizen Free Press meteorologist Robert Shackelford explained.
Snow expected in the Great Lakes region
Meanwhile, a blast of arctic air will enter the mid-northern US on Thursday, bringing scattered snow showers to the Great Lakes region, the National Weather Service reported.
The region experienced icy conditions Wednesday, with accidents reported in northern Indiana after drivers lost control on slippery bridges, officials said.
A FedEx semitrailer was left hanging off a bridge on an Indiana highway in St. Joseph County when the driver lost control after being struck by another vehicle that had itself lost control, Sgt. Ted Bohner said. , spokesman for the 24th District of the Indiana State Police.
A FedEx truck hangs over a bridge during icy conditions Wednesday in Indiana.
The FedEx truck hit the rear of another vehicle. This caused the vehicle to spin and the FedEx truck hit the concrete wall of a bridge, Bohner said.
Another car also lost control on icy roads, hitting and flipping over a guardrail, authorities said. The truck “rolled or skidded down the embankment and almost went into a parallel road,” Bohner reported.