By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist
January 23,2016; 11:00AM,EST
Follow live updates of the storm here.
The Blizzard of 2016 will continue to evolve and shut down travel through Saturday from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia and New York City, with some areas of the mid-Atlantic receiving 1-3 feet of snow and strong winds.
Snowfall totals have reached a foot and a half across Washington, D.C. and Baltimore by midday on Saturday and will continue to pile up from Philadelphia to New York City into Saturday night.
According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, "This will be a rare event for the region as there are not many storms that bring a foot or more of snow over such a large area and last more than 24 hours."
Be prepared for lengthy power outages, immobilization
Winds and the rate of snowfall will increase as the storm strengthens through Saturday. Massive drifts will develop, where sleet and rain do not mix in. Gusts along the mid-Atlantic coast will frequent 45-50 mph.
An all-out blizzard will unfold from northern Virginia to southwestern Connecticut. Periodic white-out conditions will occur farther west from south-central Pennsylvania to part of northern Virginia.
Snowfall rates from Washington, D.C. to New York City and westward into portions of Maryland and Pennsylvania will be 1-3 inches per hour at times. Thunder and lightning could accompany the heavy snow in some locations.
In some communities, roads could be blocked and the power could be out for days.
Multiple state officials have declared a state of emergency and are urging people to stay off the roads or risk being stranded during the storm.
RELATED:
Northeast US interactive weather radar
LIVE updates on the storm
Be a part of the story: Submit your blizzard photos and videos
The storm is likely to shut down major highways from Interstate 81 to I-95 and from I-78 to I-85. Multiple airports may close. Multiple airlines have already cancelled flights and announced travel waivers for flights affected by the storm in the eastern United States. Mass transit in multiple cities will be stopped or severely limited.
Factoring in strong winds and other conditions, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures at the height of the storm will be in the single digits in many areas. The conditions will raise the risk of hypothermia for those who are stuck outside and not properly dressed.
In Atlantic shoreline communities, as well as along the back bays and sounds from New York to Virginia, strong onshore winds will cause tides to run 2-4 feet above normal.
The flooding will be made worse by high astronomical tides related to the full moon. Large waves will pound the beaches. The worst conditions will be from New Jersey to eastern Maryland.
Snow to bury metro areas from DC to Philadelphia, NYC
Areas from Baltimore and Washington, D.C., to near Philadelphia will experience an all-out blizzard into Saturday afternoon with snowfall averaging 12-24 inches.
From northern Virginia to eastern West Virginia and northern Maryland, a general 2-3 feet of snow will fall.
A distance of less than 50 miles could bring snowfall ranging from an inch or less to more than a foot. As of late Friday night, snow totals across central Pennsylvania have averaged from around an inch across portions of Interstate 80 to a foot along Interstate 76. These interstates are less than 100 miles apart.
The New York City metro area into Long Island will receive 1 to 2 feet of snow with blizzard conditions at times into Saturday night.
Heavy snow is still likely right along the southern coast of New England with enough snow to shovel and plow from Hartford, Connecticut, to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Up to a few inches of snow may fall in the Boston area.
Travel impact to extend beyond the heart of the storm
Ripple effects from the storm will reach airports across the nation as flights and crews are displaced in the East.
Along with the northern edge of the heavy snow, winds will be significantly less well north and west of the storm center.
Travel may be slippery from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh and Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but the impacts will pale in comparison to areas farther south and east.
Jeff Urban ·
At least the NFL playoffs won't be affected much.
Feline Intensity
Hello,
I'm in Annapolis, MD. Does anyone know how much snow has fallen since
Friday to date? it is about noon on Saturday, 1/23/16
Mike Burton
allready over a foot in tomsriver, with all day to go. not good. please stay on power.
Tim Stewart ·
Would
someone explain to me why a full moon has more effect on high tide
than, say a half moon? How can the amount of light reflected from the
moon increase it's gravitational effect?
Mark Peters ·
The
gravitational pull of the moon is greatest at full and new moon which
pulls the water of the ocean around more. This causes the tides to be
higher at high tide and lower at low tide
PartTime Chef
Mark
Peters Correct. Its not the light on the moon but the position of the
moon. When it is in position for night tide the moon is fully lit.
Tim Stewart ·
Ok.
I looked it up. Watching the snow fall makes me lazy. "Around each new
moon and full moon, the sun, Earth, and moon arrange themselves more or
less along a line in space. Then the pull on the tides increases,
because the gravity of the sun reinforces the moon’s gravity. In fact,
the height of the average solar tide is about 50% the average lunar
tide. Thus, at new moon or full moon, the tide’s range is at its
maximum. This is the spring tide: the highest (and lowest) tide. Spring
tides are not named for the season. This is spring in the sense of jump,
burst forth, rise. So spring tides bring the most extreme high and low
tides every month, and they happen around full and new moon."
John Neuberger ·
Look
up "spring tide" on google. It will explain why these are such high
tides. It's because the gravitation pull of the moon is in the same
line as the pull of the sun.
Jerry Davis Sr. ·
He
knows it's not the light reflecting off of the moon that causes this,
he clearly said that on his post. His question was, why when there is a
full moon does it effect the tides more then say , half a moon since it
has nothing to do with light reflecting off of the moon. The answer to
your question is the positioning of the moon is the reason for the
effects on the tides and it just so happens that the position of the
moon when it effects the tides the most is when its a full moon or new
moon. These happen when the moon is either completely behind the earth
furthest from the sun or completely infront of it closest to the sun.
Brad Miller
Not
sure if this is mentioned, but a full moon is aligned with the earth in
between the moon and the sun, which would give the lowest net
gravitational force effect of the two. It would seem that the tides
would be somewhat modest at this point while a new moon aligns the moon
and the sun on the same side of the earth, creating the greatest net
gravitainal pull on the earth...this would seem to create the highest
and lowest tides, depending on which side of the earth is facing the
pair-highest tides facing them, lowest tides away from them...http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases.phtml
gives you a good sense of this (inner moons show alignment relative to
the sun, while the outer moons show what they look like from the
northern hemisphere)
Jim Cousins ·
I
am in N.W michiganwehave had our usual amount of snow for Dec and Jan,
180 " but we have Feb to go and this was supposed to be a mild winter,
yeah, right
Claressa Campbell ·
My northern freinds ,
One thing that happens in the south with the snow is that most times when it start it is warm enough for the first couple of inches to turn into water in the ground and then it warms up enough to melt some of it almost every day freezing again at night. Then there is the fact that it even comes from the sky as rain or freezing rain (which turns directly into ice as soon as it touches anything) at times. So it is not just snow, but it has layers of ice in it with the most dangerious being the layer at the bottom, the black ice. The ice in a snow event after a several day...See More
One thing that happens in the south with the snow is that most times when it start it is warm enough for the first couple of inches to turn into water in the ground and then it warms up enough to melt some of it almost every day freezing again at night. Then there is the fact that it even comes from the sky as rain or freezing rain (which turns directly into ice as soon as it touches anything) at times. So it is not just snow, but it has layers of ice in it with the most dangerious being the layer at the bottom, the black ice. The ice in a snow event after a several day...See More
Jim Spencer
I'm
in S. Jersey. Forecast called for Saturday being by far the worst day.
Well, I see a storm that failed to bomb out yet and remains diffuse on
radar, pressures still relatively high, one wind gust to 30 mph max and a
massive dry slot that promises to turn off the snow within minutes. So
still a wait and see situation but looks like a bust to me in totality,
we'll see.
Fred Smurd ·
Don't much care about 2 feet in DC. They don't accomplish much inside the Beltway anyway.
Michael Croune ·
Hi there.... Accuweather..when i look outside..it stopped snowing for at least an hour? I'm in Wilm, DE?
Daniel Salimbene ·
Weather
is far from "Normal". The new normal is 10-20 inches of snow in15-25
degree weather sandwiched by 45-60 degree days ..so you never know it
snowed from one week to another even after Monster storms.
Jerry-Thomas Lamie
6:06 AM
Camp Hill, Pa (Harrisburg area) 24 degrees, 15 mph gusts, heavy and steady snow fall, about seven inches on the ground now.
Camp Hill, Pa (Harrisburg area) 24 degrees, 15 mph gusts, heavy and steady snow fall, about seven inches on the ground now.
Howard Goldberg
Forget mixing here in Cntral NJ. VVs way too high and precip. too intense. This is S/S+/S+++++ smile emoticon for some time now.
Howard Goldberg
It
is now 1:00 a.m in Old Bridge, NJ and we have moderate to heavy snow
along with increasing and gusty NE winds. It has been snowing since 7:30
and we have picked up about three inches. The only potential problem I
see with this evolving blizzard is the fact that some mixing may occur
tomorrow, especially along the coastal plain, and that could potentially
hold down amounts. Thre are reports of sleet mixing in over parts of DE
and south of Philly. If the surface low tracks as far west as the mouth
of Chesapeake bay that could end up resulting in some mxing for us in
central, NJ. This is something to monitor. Otherwise, I am loving
this!!!!!!
Cheryl Trusas ·
Works at Wellesley Police Department
I
am from Massachusetts and last winter we had 110 inches in 3 weeks of
snow.....you didnot hear us whinning??? D.C. acts like it is the end of
the world., cause they are getting a northeastern...
Howard Goldberg
I
am not whining. I am loving it. I am from central, NJ and the only
reason I am excited is because, prior to this storm, we have only had
just about 1/4 inch of snow this entire season so anything would excite
me now especially the 18-24 inches we will probably get from this storm.
I remember your snowy winter last season and I only wish that I could
have been there. We had 40-45 inches last season (our normal is about 25
inches) and, while not bad, it pales in comparison to what you had
least season. Best wishes and I hope some of the white stuff gets up
into your area by tomorrow.
Mary Sandra Houston ·
Get
a grip, people. This is normal in other parts of U.S.A. and Canada
every day. Stop over-reacting - it's typical winter weather in those
places.
Johnny Skillicorn ·
Definitely
3 feet of snow everyday up here in Canada... Can't even ride my moose
into work most days. Great for igloo building though!
Howard Goldberg
Unfortunately,
no, this is anything but normal for a synoptic scale cyclone (except
maybe around 60 degrees latitude) and the inability of the models to
catch on, at least towards a more correct solution and a 'concensus' was
like nothing I have ever seen in my life. This is beyond amazing, not
necessarily due to performance or actual totals ,but just do to the way
everything evolved and how, in 24 hours, this storm went from a moderate
storm to an evolving and nearly verticlly stacked full latitude monster
with insane convective mesoscale banding passing through New Jersey.
Just look at the band near Philly and, if you know even the remotest
amount about cyclogenesis in the mid-atlantic, you would find this
anything but ordinary. This is unique and when it is finally over (I do
not know how it will evolve from here) but believe over the next 4-8
hours things will reach their most intense in my area, this storm may be
seen as a once in a decade/century occurrance for this area.
Claressa Campbell ·
Bina Kane... Yes, they don"t seem ready for the 90s much less the 100 to 113 or so....
Howard Goldberg
C'mon,
I know it may be too much to ask (we have been blessed so much already
with this event), but lets get the ULL to capture the surface low and
keep things going on the backend. So far, this has been a dream setup
and in someways reminds me of both the '93 superstorm and the '96
blizzard with its structure. In addition, the NAM may verify as the best
model with this one after consistent run after run continuity?!? Wake
me up! This has to be a dream!! smile emoticon
Howard Goldberg
It
is now 11:45 PM and look at that enlongated moisture plume now coming
into the Delmarva Peninsula off the Atlantic. The DC/Baltimore area and
eventually we here in Central NJ, are going to enjoy some prolific
snowfall rates with that!! That is what I call a tropical connection!!!
Also, when the surface low begins intensifying big time when it emerges
off the Virginia coast near Norfolk those winds are going to really
begin to crank. Just hope the NAM model verifies and moves the storm
slowly NE then ENE so that we can have a shot to bust 2'. in any case,
what a dream storm!!! We have a decent shot of seeing our annual average
snowfall (at leat most of it) in a single 30 or so hour event!!!
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