Get your snow shovels ready in New England, coastal New Jersey, coastal New York and the Delmarva for the weekend storm.
The latest consensus among AccuWeather.com meteorologists is the storm will graze the eastern mid-Atlantic with accumulating snow, while the full fury of the storm could be unleashed over New England and neighboring Canada.
This is by no means the final word on the storm, but rather our best shot at this early stage. Updates on the storm will follow on AccuWeather.com.
The Storm in the Mid-Atlantic
With a track well off the coast Saturday night and Sunday, it appears to be unlikely “heavy” snow will reach the I-95 mid-Atlantic and the northern and western suburbs from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia.
The area from the I-95 mid-Atlantic to the I-81 corridor is on the bubble with this storm, ranging from a chance of no snow, to a few flurries, to a light accumulation. The zone includes Winchester, Va.; Harrisburg, Reading and Scranton, Pa.; and Kingston, Albany and Binghamton, N.Y.
There is still concern that heavy, accumulating snow will skirt immediate coastal areas from Norfolk, Va. to Ocean City, Md., Atlantic City, N.J., eastern Long Island, and especially New England from Providence, R.I. to Boston and Portland, Maine.
Winter Weather Expert Meteorologist Joe Bastardi feels the storm has potential to bring a major snowfall to coastal areas and could pave the way for a white Christmas in these locations.
“This could be a Tom Brady special,” Bastardi added, referring to a possible repeat of last week’s snow in Chicago in regard to the forecast snow for Foxboro, Mass. Sunday night.
The New York City area could experience the greatest variation from west to east, with perhaps barely a few flurries around Netcong, N.J. to possibly a foot or more around Islip, Long Island.
As Expert Senior Meteorologists Evan Myers and Elliot Abrams discussed Wednesday, a span of as little as 20 miles may determine the difference between snow verses flurries, or no snow at all. The 20-mile-span could be right along the mid-Atlantic coast, or perhaps as far west as I-95.
The Storm in New England
After pivoting out to sea in the Atlantic, the storm will turn northward and could even hook northwestward enough to throw heavy snow over central and eastern New England.
We have seen several storms do this during the fall.
The period of concern for New England is from Sunday night into Monday for what could turn out to be a full-blown nor’easter with the possibility of a foot of snow.
However, this means that most of the weekend in New England will be fine for outdoor plans. Conditions would not deteriorate until Sunday afternoon/evening.
Someone from central New England to New Brunswick or Newfoundland will end up with a blizzard, depending on the all-to-important storm track.
Expert Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek stated, “If the storm does run out and hook back in, it may appear that some areas escaped the storm, only to be hit at the last minute.”
Dombek is concerned about this happening around New York City.
In all areas of the Northeast, with and without a storm’s snow, cold winds will crank up all over again, keeping a dead-of-winter pattern locked in for days next week.