The National Weather Service has expanded Winter Storm Watches for heavy snow as far north as New Jersey now as an intensifying coastal system appears to be bringing more wintry precipitation than earlier expected along parts of the eastern United States. Snow is expected from Texas to Maine, including locations in the deep south such as Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama; even northwest Florida could see a few flakes of snow.
Snow falling in the south today will reach the Mid Atlantic by tomorrow; places like Atlantic City, NJ and Philadelphia, PA should see snow break out by daybreak on Saturday. Locations near and south and east of the I[95 corridor should see the most snow, with 1-3″ north and west of this region, and 3-6″ south and east to the Mid Atlantic coast. Some locations could see 5-9″ of snow where mesoscale banding occurs in isolated locations.
At the immediate coast of Delaware, New Jersey, Long Island, and southeastern Massachussettes, there could be some mixing with non-snow precipitation. This may keep snowfall amounts a touch lower there than a bit inland. As an example, Atlantic City Airport may see a bit more snow than the Atlantic City boardwalk.
Winter Storm Watches have been posted for areas expected to receive the heaviest snow while areas north and west, where less snow is expected, are under Winter Weather Advisories.
This will be a heavy, wet snowfall. Because of the weight of the snow, there is a risk of power outages due to downed power lines and branches on those wires in swaths of heavier snow.
The snow will wrap up from southwest to northeast later Saturday, with fair high pressure arriving on Sunday and Monday. Old Man Winter isn’t done yet; another system could bring another round of accumulating snow to the Mid Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday into Wednesday.
