Mid-Atlantic and Central US slammed by snow and ice

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Jon Porter provides the latest updates on the major winter storm that has swept through the central and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. with snow and ice.

Transcript

00:00These storms that we see in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, they're almost all the same.

00:05It's what I call fast and furious, right?

00:08The snow comes in, it thumps, you get the problems, and then it tends to end quickly.

00:14And that's probably what we're going to be dealing with here today.

00:18That snow extends all the way into Pennsylvania as well.

00:20Yeah, that's right, at least for the heaviest of the snow, Bernie.

00:23And that's the reason that AccuWeather meteorologists, ahead of all other known sources, stress the

00:28concern about road and travel impacts today in the D.C. area.

00:33These are interstate highways that are heavily trafficked.

00:36And look at the deep blue that's been going on in through there.

00:39That's indicative of snow that's falling at one to two inches per hour.

00:44And Bernie, when it's falling that fast, it's difficult for even the most experienced road

00:48crews to keep up with.

00:49All right, let's talk about Pennsylvania, some problems along Interstate 80, Pennsylvania

00:54Turnpike across the entire Keystone State this morning.

00:58That's been a good, steady snow along the duration of Interstate 80 from east to west

01:03across Pennsylvania, so certainly slowing travel in that area.

01:07But the heaviest of the snow earlier was across the corridor from the Pennsylvania Turnpike

01:11southbound, where there'll be several inches of snow.

01:13All right, look at that dark blue shading again.

01:16It's going to start letting up here shortly in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., but boy, that

01:20area around Fredericksburg towards Salisbury, that may end up being the area that gets close

01:26to a foot out of this, John.

01:28That's where those most persistent heavy snow bands have been, and it doesn't take many

01:33hours of one to two inch per hour snow in that deep blue shade here for it really to

01:38start piling up.

01:39And that's why the message we've had has been sort of the heaviest corridor, D.C. southbound

01:45between D.C. and Fredericksburg out to Salisbury, as you mentioned.

01:48That's where we're going to be dealing with that heavy snow, but look at the back edge

01:51of the heavier snow for now, Hagerstown back toward Harrisonburg in Virginia.

01:57That's going to be pulling to the east.

01:59That's why there can be a bit of a lull here in the D.C. area before another period of

02:03light snow, maybe another inch or inch or two in some spots later this afternoon.

02:09Before we get to that, we want to get you a little farther south.

02:11What a morning in Richmond.

02:12Four inches of snow during the overnight area hours, and John, in AccuWeather now predicting

02:18over a half inch of ice.

02:20And that's enough to cause some serious problems here in the Richmond area in terms of ice

02:26accumulating on power lines that can really weigh down trees and power lines and lead

02:31to significant increases in power outages.

02:34So be looking for that in the Richmond corridor here further south toward Hampton Roads and

02:38Virginia Beats.

02:39It's just rain this morning.

02:40All right, let's put future radar in the motion.

02:43You'll see that area, as I said, it's back.

02:45Here comes that break that you were talking about, John.

02:48As we go forward, you'll see that snow start to fill back in later on today.

02:53There it is across parts of Virginia, and here it comes eastward later on today.

02:58I'm a little concerned about this second piece here, Bernie, especially as it rotates through

03:02southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, parts of eastern Ohio, because there can be

03:07some embedded bands of heavier snow showers, maybe even a brief snow squall in some locations.

03:13And then look at the future radar here.

03:14By 7 o'clock, that rotates back into the Baltimore-Washington area.

03:19That's why travel conditions can once again be challenging later today, just in time for

03:24the evening commute and thereafter.

03:26There's the accumulation.

03:27So, you know, John, we issued this map about, I think it was four days ago.

03:31We've not changed it.

03:32No, we didn't.

03:33We issued this ahead of any other source, and of course, if you can go into the AccuWeather

03:36app, which is a free download in the App Store or Google Play on Android, and then of course

03:42AccuWeather.com, we have WinterCast, and you can look at how much snow we're expecting

03:46plus the prospects for a little bit more or a little bit less right down in your community.

03:50It's a great resource.

03:52AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter.

03:53John, thanks for joining us here on AccuWeather Early.

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