UNIVERSITY PARK – AccuWeather.com reports blizzard conditions, or at the very least, near white-out conditions will wallop the mid-Atlantic corridor from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia through southern New Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula today. Travel will be extremely difficult to impossible throughout this zone.
Philadelphia’s snow will end up racking up to around a foot with areas south of the city getting up to 2 feet of snow.
Washington, D.C., had already been clobbered by more than a foot of snow by 6 a.m. EST on Saturday, and additional snowfall could bring the total to 2 feet in the city.
Baltimore was already buried by 18 inches of snow at 6 a.m., and the snow total may climb above 2 feet in the city before the storm is finished.
Winds gusting up to 50 mph in the mid-Atlantic will produce huge snow drifts–big enough to bury cars entirely. Significant blowing will make it hard for people to measure the snow, let alone, try to travel today.
The blowing and drifting of snow will keep road crews and shovelers busy long after the snow winds down. Stranded vehicles from people who tried to venture out in the storm will further hinder clean-up.
Anyone planning on traveling through the region through the rest of the weekend will run the risk of being stranded, especially in areas ill-equipped for major snow removal.
On top of the blowing snow, the winds may topple trees and power lines, resulting in power outages. The weight of heavy snow could prove enough to cause serious damage to weak-roof structures.
New York City is among the cities to the north dodging the heavy snowstorm with accumulating snow mostly staying south of I-78. The city itself will only get up to 3 inches of snow.
New England was almost entirely bypassed by this snowstorm with the exception of some flakes sneaking into Connecticut and the Cape of Massachusetts. Instead, howling winds and brutal cold are in store for the region through Monday.