Top News

The biggest mid-Atlantic blizzard of years begins in the first week of 2022

Lakshmi

The largest Atlantic blizzard since 2019 will begin in the first full week of the New Year, with up to one foot of snowfall possible in parts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and southern New Jersey.

As of Monday morning, 29 million people were on winter alert from northern Georgia to Cape Cod.

Snowfall was reported throughout the night from Sunday to Monday in northern Alabama, northern Georgia, much of Tennessee, and south of Florida.

By Monday afternoon, thunderstorms had already been reported in Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Hundreds of thousands of customers lost power on Monday, including more than 344,000 in Virginia and 166,000 in North Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us, which collects data on applications across the United States.

More than 85,000 customers in Georgia and more than 75,000 customers in South Carolina reported no electricity until 12 noon ET.

During the first half of the day on Monday, snow is expected to be heavy at times, ranging from 1 to 4 inches per hour, leading to rapid accumulation on the roads during morning rush hour.

As the storm moves toward the sea, Cape Cod will reduce snowfall, but this time Boston was not expected to see snow from the system.

Bobby Smith lays a walkway in Annapolis, MD, on January 3, 2022. Susan Walsh / AB

There may be 3 to 6 inches of snowfall from South Virginia through East Long Island. The heaviest total of 6 to 12 inches was expected to be in a zone extending from central Virginia (Fredericksburg area) to southern New Jersey (Atlantic City).

Mile Game.

Extreme levels of snow are expected in southern Pennsylvania, central / northern New Jersey and parts of New York City. This is where a sharp cut in snowfall is expected at noon on Monday. These tight ice slopes will determine how much snow is available for Philadelphia and New York City.

In other words, a distance of just 20 miles represents the difference between snowfall and dust.

In addition to occasional severe snowfall rates, wind speeds of up to 40 mph were forecast in parts of the Mid-Atlantic, especially southern New Jersey, which could lead to blizzard conditions and power outages.

Major travel delays to major centers located in Washington, Philadelphia and New York.

Time and total.

Washington: 4 to 8 inches

If the snowfall in Washington is more than 6 inches from this morning until 12 noon, then Chicago (6 “) and Denver (5.9”) will have more snow this season than ever before.

Philadelphia: 2 to 4 inches

Heavy snowfall from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., as Philadelphia is on the northern edge of the storm, there is much uncertainty in their forecast.

New York: 1 to 3 inches

With light to moderate snowfall from 12 noon to 3 pm New York City is also on the northern edge of the storm, so there is much uncertainty about what the Big Apple will look like.

Atlantic City: 6 to 10 inches

Severe snowfall with winds of up to 40 mph blowing from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. can lead to blizzard conditions.

This dynamic storm system also has heavy thunderstorms.

Heavy thunderstorms lashed eastern Carolinas south of the Mid-Atlantic blizzard Monday morning.

A hurricane monitoring was in place for cities such as Martil Beach and Cape Hatteros on Monday morning, where heavy thunderstorms could damage isolated hurricanes and winds blowing through East Carolina. Sudden flooding is also a concern.

To add even more shock to the biggest snowstorm of the year, the weekend came with snow like spring heat.

After a high of 70s across the Southeast on Sunday and a high of 60s across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, Monday will be a maximum of 20-30 degrees cold.

These extreme cold temperatures can freeze wet roads from Monday night to Tuesday morning, causing icing worries on the roads.