Northeastern U.S. braces for a foot of snow at end of holiday weekend

The second part of a double-barreled storm is forecast to unload heavy snow and create difficult travel over a large part of the northeastern United States, including some major cities from Sunday to Monday.

A winterlike storm from the Midwest will move in this weekend, then hand off to a new coastal storm that strengthens by Monday.

Accumulating snow is forecast to occur in Boston; Hartford, Connecticut; New York City and even to some extent around the Trenton, New Jersey, and Philadelphia area from the storm.

The heaviest snow, on the order of 6-12 inches is forecast from the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania to central Massachusetts and southwestern New Hampshire. However, pockets of 12-18 inches are in store for the Catskills and Berkshires, where an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 24 inches is expected.

Heavy snow is in store for much of the Hudson, Mohawk and Connecticut river valleys with a few inches as far south as parts of the Delaware and Lehigh valleys.

Part of the storm will bring ice, rain and a wintry mix along the Interstate-95 corridor from Philadelphia to New York City and Boston, with the ice and mix to occur during Sunday into Sunday night.

Conditions are likely to be a wintry mess around the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Packers will take on the Giants during Sunday afternoon. Farther south and west, drenching rain is in the offing for the NFL game between the 49ers and Ravens at Baltimore, and perhaps in Pittsburgh for the Browns and Steelers match up.

A significant buildup of ice is forecast over parts of the central Appalachians to southern New England with dangerous travel conditions and the risk of falling tree limbs and power outages. How damaging the ice storm is will depend on whether the primary form of precipitation is sleet or freezing rain. Sleet tends to bounce off, while freezing rain weighs down trees and power lines.

The middle part of the storm is likely to be the warmest during Sunday night. This is when just enough warm air is likely to sweep in from the south and the Atlantic to bring plain rain to coastal areas of the upper mid-Atlantic and southeastern New England.

However farther inland, a transition from wet snow to more powdery snow is in store in some areas and a wintry mix or ice to snow in others as a storm along the coast strengthens and begins to pull in colder air.

During Monday, cold air is likely to collapse toward the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast to bring a change to accumulating snow.

While an accumulation of a coating to an inch or so is possible around Philadelphia, up to a few inches may fall on the New York City area with several inches likely around Boston. Much heavier snow is likely in the northern and western suburbs of New York City and Boston, with a few inches possible well north of Philadelphia.

Should the storm strengthen a bit more, heavy snow may fall right in New York City and a few inches might occur in Philadelphia on Monday. Boston could pick up a foot of snow in such a case where rain does not hold back the accumulation.

Some schools that are scheduled to be in session on Monday may have delays or cancellations. Flight delays and cancellations are likely from Boston to New York City and Philadelphia. Ripple-effect days can be felt not only in the Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh areas, but across much of the nation as crews and aircraft are likely to be displaced as the storm also affected some of the major Midwest hubs this weekend.

For those with flexible travel plans are encouraged to postpone Sunday and Monday trips.

Travel conditions are likely to improve dramatically over the region on Tuesday as crews will have been out plowing and/or treating the road with ice-melting compounds. However, snow is likely to start the day in eastern New England.

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