© www.accuweather.comThis map shows the expected storm total snowfall on non-paved surfaces through Saturday night. However, in the heaviest snowfall areas, a slippery, slushy accumulation is likely even on major highways. A few pockets within the heaviest snow band can receive from one to two feet of crushing snow with snowfall rates possibly reaching 2 to 4 inches per hour, complete with thunder and lightning.
A foot of heavy wet, back-breaking snow will plaster areas north and west of I-95 Saturday, causing massive power outages, downed trees and travel nightmares.
The storm will hit hard and fast, traveling from southwest to northeast over the mid-Atlantic and New England in less than 24 hours. In most of the mid-Atlantic the storm began as rain, but a change to snow will progress throughout the day.
The heaviest snow from the storm will stretch from along the Virginia/West Virginia border through a large swath of central and eastern Pennsylvania to southeastern New York state, northwestern New Jersey, northern Connecticut, central and western Massachusetts to southern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine.
Cities and towns that are likely to receive the heaviest snowfall include: Torrington, Conn., Hagerstown, Md., Springfield, Mass., Nashua, N.H., Netcong, N.J., Kingston, N.Y., Honesdale, Pa., Winchester, Va., Brattleboro, Vt. and Martinsburg, W.Va.
In these areas and others over the interior Northeast, the snow will come down hard enough to accumulate on the roads making for slippery driving. The worst conditions will be in the hilly areas and the mountains, where slightly lower temperatures are in store.
Thousands of trees could come down, and over a million people
could be without power. Some rural roads could be blocked for days by fallen trees. Driving or walking through wooded areas during and immediately following the storm could be dangerous.