Snow and ice storm to blast Southeast before eyeing DC to NYC, Boston
The same storm that will deliver a substantial amount of snow and ice across the interior south-central United States will reach the Atlantic coast this weekend and may have eyes for the mid-Atlantic and parts of New England this weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
The new winter storm is the latest in a busy January weather pattern and follows a massive storm that stretched over 1,500 miles this past weekend to Monday. This new storm will take a much more southern route across the Central states but could turn northward, potentially bringing another round of accumulating snow to the mid-Atlantic and the first snowfall of 2025 for southeastern New England.
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Major travel disruptions will spread across the Southern states into this weekend with the risk of interstate highway closures as well as the potential for thousands of flight cancellations and airline delays spreading from Dallas to Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte.
The storm will bring additional hardship to many people in the southern Appalachians who are still displaced and living in temporary housing or makeshift dwellings in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which hit in late September.
The storm will track from the Texas coast on Thursday to the Georgia and South Carolina coast late Friday night. Given the extent of Arctic air across the Southeastern states, this track will produce substantial snow and ice over portions of the southern Appalachians and an icy mix for the Piedmont areas of Georgia and the Carolinas.
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From Friday to early Saturday, a wintry or icy mix will cause slippery roads and sidewalks around Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina.
In the zone from Augusta, Georgia, to Columbia, South Carolina, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, rain will be the primary form of precipitation. However, there is likely to be a period of ice at the onset, and the storm could end with a period of wet snow. Slippery conditions are possible on the front and back end of the storm in these more eastern locations.
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As colder air sloshes in on the back side of the storm, nighttime temperatures Saturday night in the Southeast, and even Friday night in some cases west of the Appalachians, will freeze many untreated wet and slushy areas.
The storm is expected to move eastward through the Southeast before exiting off the coast of North Carolina early Saturday morning.
With this nearly straight east track, the heaviest snow and ice will extend across northern North Carolina and southern Virginia but likely not much farther to the north.
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"Even with this track, a ripple in the atmosphere farther to the north will still produce spotty or intermittent light snow over the central Appalachians and the upper part of the mid-Atlantic and New England from Saturday to Saturday night," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said, "This northern feature can produce pockets of slippery travel from West Virginia and northern Virginia to upstate New York and New England."
For this reason, AccuWeather meteorologists believe a broad area where 1 to locally 3 inches of snow will fall will extend well to the north of the coastal storm.
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People from a large part of the southeastern U.S. and the Northeast with travel plans on Saturday should expect substantial delays and consider traveling well before or after the storm to minimize being on the roads in dangerous conditions.
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In the wake of the storm, a new round of lake-effect snow will ramp up from Michigan to Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, which will pose its share of travel issues from Saturday night to Monday around the Great Lakes.
A weak storm is forecast to push across the Midwest Sunday night and the Northeast Monday with a general area of light snow and slippery travel.
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