How much?!? See a state-by-state breakdown of maximum predicted snowfall
A fast-moving storm is expected to blanket large parts of the country with significant amounts of snow into Sunday. The storm that's bearing down on parts of the Midwest and Northeast is expected to deliver snow accumulations that will be the largest snowfall of the season in some places.
"The snow is likely to fall at the rate of up to 2-3 inches per hour and may do so from soon after the snow begins to near its conclusion," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski. But what is the maximum amount each state will receive and where is the heaviest snowfall likely to occur?
In general, the heaviest snowfall will be across northern Pennsylvania, upstate New York and northern and central New England, with the general amount of snow in those areas in the range of 12 to 30 inches. The highest localized totals by state, which are captured by the unique AccuWeather Local StormMax™methodology, are as follows.
New Hampshire and Maine top the predicted AccuWeather StormMax forecast at 40 inches. Some places in Vermont can have a Local StormMax™ of 35 inches, followed by New York (30), Massachusetts (28), Pennsylvania (25), Ohio (22) and New Jersey (10).
"What will make this storm dangerous, especially in northern Pennsylvania, upstate New York and northern and central New England, is the combination of heavy snow, followed by gale-force winds and then extremely cold temperatures falling to zero and well below zero in some cases," said AccuWeather founder and CEO Joel N. Myers. "And the AccuWeather RealFeel® temperature will reach 20, 25, and even 30 below zero in some areas.
"This combination of heavy snow, wind and extreme cold does not happen that often," Myers added. "And particularly since it has been a relatively mild winter so far, some people may not take this as seriously as they should."
"Areas that are likely to be all snow and some of the areas where there will be ice are going to face a serious problem," Myers said. "They might have power lines come down because of the wind, so some residents might be without heat when it's extremely cold. In other places where it's all snow, you could have roads that could be impassable because of drifting of up to six feet.
"People really have to take this storm seriously," Myers said.
