Winter weather alerts issued in Northeast as millions brace for storm packing snow, rain ahead of Thanksgiving
The FOX Forecast Center says a new area of low pressure has started to form across the Great Lakes region and will rapidly develop into Thursday. This follows another powerful storm that brought rain and snow to portions of the Upper Midwest earlier this week.
Travel trouble looms for millions as Northeast prepares for beneficial rain from developing storm
Millions of people from the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast are bracing for impacts from a potent storm system that’s expected to bring snow to the higher elevations while major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor receive beneficial rain.
NEW YORK – Winter weather alerts have been issued from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast as the region gets set to be blasted by a powerful winter storm packing snow, heavy rain and strong winds just as millions of people prepare to travel ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday.
While Thanksgiving travel will peak next week, some people have decided to hit the roads and pack airports early hoping to beat the holiday rush. That’s because AAA said a potentially record-breaking 80 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home this year.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it, too, was preparing for what could be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record and offered tips for passengers to help make traveling through airports as easy and stress-free as possible.
This graphic shows the progression of a powerful storm that's expected to impacts areas from the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic and Northeast with rain, snow and strong winds. (FOX Weather)
According to the FOX Forecast Center, a new area of low pressure has started to form across the Great Lakes region and will rapidly develop through Thursday. This follows another powerful storm that brought rain and snow to portions of the Upper Midwest earlier this week.
As the storm center drifts into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast at the end of this week, strong winds are expected to blow in cold air, supporting snow from parts of the Great Lakes region to the Ohio Valley, the northern mid-Atlantic and interior Northeast.
Forecast snow totals are trending up for Upstate New York and the higher terrain in Pennsylvania, according to the FOX Forecast Center. Those hoping to get out of metro areas could face some tough driving conditions along Interstate 88 and Interstate 81.
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Because of the incoming storm, several winter weather alerts have been issued from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, including Winter Storm Watches for portions of West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the higher elevations in West Virginia, and Winter Weather Advisories stretch from portions of Tennessee and Kentucky to New York State.
The highest snow totals are expected to fall in the higher elevations in West Virginia, where more than a foot of snow could fall in some spots. Computer forecast models are also showing snow in Pennsylvania and New York, where some spots could see 5-8 inches of snow with some higher amounts locally.
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Forecast rain totals have also been trending higher, and the FOX Forecast Center now expects 2-3 inches of rain for parts of the Hudson River Valley in New York, as well as in portions of Connecticut and Massachusetts in New England.