Video: Why Such a Large Power Outage Threat?
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A significant, rare October snowstorm will plow through the Northeast Saturday through early Sunday morning. Scroll down or use the links below to view the forecast and current conditions to guide you through the storm.
Video: Why Such a Large Power Outage Threat?
Video: Why Such a Large Power Outage Threat?
© 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.
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.
Historic storm could dump a foot of snow in parts of the state this weekend.
It took mere hours to break the record for snowfall in Connecticut in October and, by 4 p.m., Gov. Dannel Malloy had ordered all non-emergency vehicles off the roads.
Many Connecticut residents have no power and several cities and towns have activated emergency operations centers.
As of 4:30 p.m., more than 7 inches have fallen in New Fairfield and the snow just keeps coming down. By daybreak on Sunday, the northwestern part of the state could get up to 15 inches.
Heavy snow is expected statewide on Saturday night, along with strong, gusty winds and falling temperatures.
By the time all is said and done, 6-10 inches is expected through much of inland Connecticut though Litchfield County is expected to receive 10-15 inches. Along the shoreline the greater New Haven area can expect 3-6 inches while southeastern Connecticut gets 1-3 inches.
It took mere hours to break the record for snowfall in Connecticut in October and, by 4 p.m., Gov. Dannel Malloy had ordered all non-emergency vehicles off the roads.
Many Connecticut residents have no power and several cities and towns have activated emergency operations centers.
As of 4:30 p.m., more than 7 inches have fallen in New Fairfield and the snow just keeps coming down. By daybreak on Sunday, the northwestern part of the state could get up to 15 inches.
Heavy snow is expected statewide on Saturday night, along with strong, gusty winds and falling temperatures.
By the time all is said and done, 6-10 inches is expected through much of inland Connecticut though Litchfield County is expected to receive 10-15 inches. Along the shoreline the greater New Haven area can expect 3-6 inches while southeastern Connecticut gets 1-3 inches.
© The Associated Press / Julio CortezA jack-o-lantern is covered with snow during a rare October snowstorm that hit the Northern New Jersey region, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, in North Bergen, N.J. A classic nor'easter is moving along the East Coast and is expected to dump anywhere from a dusting of snow to about 10 inches throughout the region starting Saturday, a decidedly unseasonal date for a type of storm more associated with midwinter.
Communities inland in mid-Atlantic states were getting hit hardest. Cherry Grove, W.Va., on the edge of the Monongahela National Forest, already got 4 inches of snow overnight, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy snow was falling in western Maryland, and the Frostburg area could receive 8 or 9 inches. Along the Blue Ridge Mountains between Hagerstown and Frederick, significant snowfall was also expected.
Tens of thousands lost power in Pennsylvania, and utilities were bringing in crews from Ohio and Kentucky to help. Officials warned that the heavy, wet snow combined with fully leafed trees could lead to downed tree branches and power lines, resulting in power outages and blocked roads.
A steady midday heavy snow pelted the field at Beaver Stadium in State College, where No. 21 Penn State was to host Illinois. Mother Nature cooperated with calls for a "whiteout," in which fans wear all white to the game in an occasional tradition for big games at the school. A few hours before the midafternoon kickoff, about 3 inches had already fallen.
The heaviest snow, though, was forecast for later in the day into Sunday in the Massachusetts Berkshires, the Litchfield Hills in northwestern Connecticut, southwestern New Hampshire and the southern Green Mountains.
"It's going to be wet, sticky and gloppy," said NWS spokesman Chris Vaccaro. "It's not going to be a dry, fluffy snow."
Water cascades down a staircase at Dundrum shopping centre in south-east Dublin. Image taken from a video posted on Youtube by Showars.
According to Ireland's national meteorological service, Met Eireann, the Dublin region saw 82.2mm of rainfall Monday, the equivalent of one month's worth and by far the most since records first began there in 1954.
As rain continues to dump down on Dublin on Tuesday, the city has begun to take stock of the damage. Thus far, the flooding has wreaked havoc on transportation to and from the capital, with significant delays on several of Dublin's main routes and its DART commuter train service. Homes, main arteries and even one of the city's largest commercial complexes, Dundrum shopping centre, have been inundated with water.
Boston - A major nor'easter is about to pound southern New England with heavy rain, snow and wind.
In more than 100 years of record keeping in Boston the most snow the city has ever seen in the month of October is 1.1 inches, six years ago on October 29, 2005.
This storm is almost certain to be one for the record books in all of southern New England.
Timeline
The precipitation will begin Saturday afternoon between 3 and 5 p.m., as mainly rain for all of eastern Massachusetts, a mix in higher elevations to the west.
The intensity of the precipitation will increase rapidly over the next several hours and the rain-snow line will collapse to the south and east as colder air is drawn into the deepening storm on shifting winds to the north.
By midnight, it will be snowing just about everywhere with the exception of southeastern Mass. where it will continue to rain very heavily.
The rain-snow line will collapse further southeast to around the Cape Cod Canal in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning before the storm system pulls away and the precipitation shuts off just after dawn.
© CBS BostonProjected Snowfall Map
This storm is almost certain to be one for the record books in all of southern New England.
Timeline
The precipitation will begin Saturday afternoon between 3 and 5 p.m., as mainly rain for all of eastern Massachusetts, a mix in higher elevations to the west.
The intensity of the precipitation will increase rapidly over the next several hours and the rain-snow line will collapse to the south and east as colder air is drawn into the deepening storm on shifting winds to the north.
By midnight, it will be snowing just about everywhere with the exception of southeastern Mass. where it will continue to rain very heavily.
The rain-snow line will collapse further southeast to around the Cape Cod Canal in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning before the storm system pulls away and the precipitation shuts off just after dawn.
National Weather Service issues winter storm watch for Pa., Md., Va. and W. Va
It may still be October, with the World Series in full swing, but some parts of the East Coast could be in for an unexpected wintry blast of up to 6 inches of snow this weekend.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia from Friday night through Saturday afternoon as a storm blows through the region. Even more snow was expected to fall in higher elevations, including the Laurel Highlands and the Pocono Mountains, forecasters said.
Temperatures were expected to drop into the 30s across much of the Northeast by Friday morning. Boston got its first dusting late Thursday night.
Forecasters warned that the early snow could bring down tree limbs - something that Colorado got a dose of this week.
About 12,000 homes and businesses along Colorado's Front Range were still without power Friday morning following a fall snowstorm that downed trees and power lines. Outages were in metro Denver and Boulder and in Greeley, Fort Collins and Loveland to the north. The storm Tuesday and Wednesday brought about six inches of snow to Denver and about a foot to Greeley.
It may still be October, with the World Series in full swing, but some parts of the East Coast could be in for an unexpected wintry blast of up to 6 inches of snow this weekend.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia from Friday night through Saturday afternoon as a storm blows through the region. Even more snow was expected to fall in higher elevations, including the Laurel Highlands and the Pocono Mountains, forecasters said.
© Vyto Starinskas/APRutland, Vt., residents woke up to this view to the east on Friday, as a storm left a cover of snow, in Killington, Vt. There were up to six inches of snow atop Killington.
Forecasters warned that the early snow could bring down tree limbs - something that Colorado got a dose of this week.
About 12,000 homes and businesses along Colorado's Front Range were still without power Friday morning following a fall snowstorm that downed trees and power lines. Outages were in metro Denver and Boulder and in Greeley, Fort Collins and Loveland to the north. The storm Tuesday and Wednesday brought about six inches of snow to Denver and about a foot to Greeley.
Six inches falls, cutting power to tens of thousands
A heavy, wet snowstorm descended on the Denver area early on Wednesday morning, causing widespread power outages and numerous car crashes and minor injuries in the Centennial State.
Just two days after record high temperatures, six inches of snow fell in the Denver area forcing the closure of roads in the mountains and eastern planes. Another two to five inches is expected before the storm moves out on Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
There were no fatalities but numerous car crashes and slide-offs causing minor injuries, the Colorado State Patrol said.
Some 87,000 customers east of the continental divide and north of Denver were without power, public utility company Xcel Energy, Inc. said in a statement.
A heavy, wet snowstorm descended on the Denver area early on Wednesday morning, causing widespread power outages and numerous car crashes and minor injuries in the Centennial State.
Just two days after record high temperatures, six inches of snow fell in the Denver area forcing the closure of roads in the mountains and eastern planes. Another two to five inches is expected before the storm moves out on Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
There were no fatalities but numerous car crashes and slide-offs causing minor injuries, the Colorado State Patrol said.
Some 87,000 customers east of the continental divide and north of Denver were without power, public utility company Xcel Energy, Inc. said in a statement.
© Sky News
The storm was a Category Two on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale measuring hurricane intensity on Wednesday afternoon, with winds of 110mph.
It could become a Category Three major hurricane with winds of up to 115mph by Wednesday night, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the centre warned. The storm is due to strike the peninsula late by Thursday.
On Wednesday morning temperatures in Cancun were falling ahead of the storm as rain showered the popular resort area.
Most schools were closed as residents rushed to make preparations for the hurricane.
Dublin - A policeman drowned and a woman's body was located in a flooded residential apartment block, as a shopping mall and businesses in the Irish capital were hit early Tuesday by the heaviest rainfall in over 40 years.
Ireland's national weather service - Met Eireann - said rainfall of up to 85mm (3.3 inches), equivalent to an average month's rain, fell across the Dublin region in a period of three hours Monday night.
A policeman was washed away by flood water while directing traffic on a bridge on the River Liffey in County Wicklow. His body was located nearby. Irish police also said they found a body of a woman in a flooded apartment complex in Dublin.
