From the Midwest to the Northeast, a powerful yet swift winter storm is bringing heavy snowfall and wind gusts, cutting off power and making commuters’ journeys hazardous.
On Wednesday afternoon, the storm moved eastward, spreading its wintry conditions throughout other Great Lakes, the Midwest, and portions of the interior Northeast. Parts of northern Ohio and a region south of Chicago were hit by snow squalls on Wednesday night and into early Thursday. Starting Thursday morning, there is a chance that further snow squalls will extend to the interior Northeast.
Drivers are at great risk during snow squalls, which are severe but brief bursts of heavy snow and strong winds that can produce blinding, whiteout conditions that seem to appear out of nowhere.
“There is no safe place on a highway during a snow squall,” the Weather Prediction Center stated. “Dangerous travel conditions are likely, including whiteout visibility and rapidly worsening road conditions.”
Additionally, on Wednesday morning and early in the afternoon, a few snow squalls passed across portions of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Additionally, a reinforcing blast of cold air is moving throughout the East, bringing with it sharp decreases in temperature of 10 to 25 degrees below normal, while the next bout of snowfall continues across the Great Lakes and the interior Northeast.
Wednesday’s high temperatures, which were mostly in the 40s and 50s, will drop to the 20s and 30s on Thursday as the cold air moves further east.
Strong gusts that can damage trees and cut out electricity, especially from the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic to the New England coast, will be another characteristic of this storm. On Thursday, the Northeast and portions of the mid-Atlantic, including Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York City, may experience wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph.
Though it should still avoid the cities along the Northeast’s I-95 corridor, the snow from this storm will affect a far wider area than the storms of the previous several weeks.
The regions downwind of the Great Lakes, where five feet of snow fell over the holiday weekend, will once again see the maximum snow accumulation. Areas that are still digging out might receive an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow and lake effect from the storm.
Lower elevations in the Northeast may see lighter snowfall of up to an inch or two.
Along the Interstate-95 corridor, there may perhaps be a few flurries mixed with rain. It is doubtful that any snow will accumulate near the shore, but slick areas and difficult navigation could result from damp roads and cold air.
