A coast-to-coast winter storm sweeping across the U.S. will approach the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday in what shall be the cherry on top of an lively week of weather.
The storm system will develop a recent area of low pressure that can slide just south of Latest England, bringing impactful ice after which snow to the inside parts of the Northeast.
The FOX Forecast Center said the winter storm gets entering into the wee hours of Thursday morning. An icy mixture of freezing rain and sleet will first break out across the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia after which spread up into central Pennsylvania.
The icing will proceed through at the very least midday Thursday, and the buildup shall be significant in some areas.
The worst conditions are expected within the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, where as much as three-quarters of an inch of ice is feasible. The burden of this much ice will likely bring down many trees and result in quite a few power outages.
Farther north in Pennsylvania, the freezing rain will change over to all snow by mid-afternoon Thursday, which can limit the ice accretion to where it won’t cause too many power outages, but incredibly difficult and dangerous travel conditions are still expected due to the ice and snow.
Ice Storm Warnings are in effect where probably the most disruptive ice is predicted, from the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia northward to western parts of central Pennsylvania.
Winter Storm Warnings are posted for the remainder of central and northeastern Pennsylvania to central and upstate Latest York and portions of northern Latest England, where mainly snow is predicted.
Winter Weather Advisories have been issued for parts of the Interstate 95 corridor, including Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, where a temporary wintry mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain could create slick travel Thursday morning before the precipitation changes over to plain rain within the afternoon.
The FOX Forecast Center said the snow will overspread much of central and northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate Latest York on Thursday afternoon, then expand into Vermont, Latest Hampshire and western Massachusetts on Thursday night.
Snow will proceed all day Friday while also spreading into Maine before it finally winds down on Saturday.
The snowfall amounts shall be elevation-dependent, with the upper elevations easily picking up greater than a foot of snow from upstate Latest York to western Maine. Lower elevations will see lower snowfall amounts resulting from mixing with sleet and freezing rain.
As mentioned earlier, the massive cities along the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Washington can expect a temporary wintry mix Thursday morning before the storm becomes primarily a rain event for them.
Make sure you check back with FOX Weather for updates on each the wintry side and the severe side of this coast-to-coast storm.