‘High confidence in a major winter storm’ forecast this weekend

While it’s still too early to tell precise amounts or an exact track, Houk said he’s confident that the mid-Atlantic region will face the brunt of the storm.

It’s still unknown which areas of the Northeast will be most affected, but it’s probably going to be a hard time for commuters and other travelers from Friday to Saturday.

“Moderate to heavy snow accumulations” are possible, according to the National Weather Service.

“This could bring the numbers back up to normal”, Otto said.

The center said it has “high confidence in a major winter storm”. As of Sunday, the area had seen only 2.8 inches of snow this winter, which is significantly less than the 18.4 inch seasonal average usually experienced by this point in January.

The percentage increases on Saturday with a 70% chance of snow during the day and a 60% chance of snow at night. Parts of western Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have the potential for the greatest snowfalls, Houk said, with snowfall almost 3 inches per hour falling on some areas.

But there is still uncertainty, because the system that is expected to become the storm is still in the Pacific and crossing the California coast Tuesday.

If the storm develops to its full potential and takes a track just off the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts, then a blizzard can unfold. Here’s what you need to know about a storm that’s still more than three days away.

Root was more willing to make a prediction, saying that “if things go perfectly in terms of the path of the storm we could see a foot or more of snow”. The track of the storm shifted and eastern Long Island and New England received the worst, while NY escaped with less than a foot.

“It’s important to have snow shovels ready and to have a supply of rock salt or snow melt for when the snow comes”, said Charlie Schank, sales manager at S&S Tools & Supplies Inc.in Scranton. “Well, it happened, but it was a little east of you”.

Winter cold has arrived and substantial snowfall could be right around the corner. “We have been spoiled”.