AccuWeather.com is wrapping up live coverage of the winter storm that marched from the Tennessee Valley up across the Eastern Seaboard to New England. Thank you for following the storm on AccuWeather.com. For continuing coverage of the storm and its impacts along with forecasts and other weather news, visit AccuWeather.com and watch the AccuWeather TV Network, check the AccuWeather mobile app for the latest forecasts, alerts and real-time conditions and stream AccuWeather NOW anytime on our website.
A NOAA weather satellite image taken on Jan. 7, 2022, shows a stretch of the eastern U.S. extending from southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas all the way up to Maine with a fresh coating of snow from a winter storm that traveled approximately 1,300 miles in a little over 24 hours.
On Thursday afternoon and evening, the snow fell most heavily over the Tennessee Valley region, leaving behind 9.9 inches in Lexington, Kentucky, and 8 inches in Gallatin, Tennessee. Farther east, 7 inches were dumped in Vanderpool, Virginia, and 8 inches were recorded in Thurmont, Maryland. The town of Thomas in West Virginia saw the heaviest snowfall from the storm, totaling 14 inches.
As the storm moved northeastward through the early hours of Friday morning, the snow totals increased. In Pennsylvania, the town of Davis recorded the state-high with 10.7 inches and in New Jersey, Closter recorded 7.3 inches. While western New York was pummeled by lake-effect snow, areas in eastern New York also picked up heavy snow from the storm, led by Glen Cove, located on the north shore of Long Island, about 25 miles east of New York City, with 9.3 inches.
And in New England, many areas topped the 1-foot mark, with Pomfret, Connecticut, and North Weymouth, Massachusetts each leading the way with 13 inches apiece. Rhode Island also saw one location, Burrillville, top the 1-foot mark with its recording of 12 inches.
Snow is still ongoing in parts of New England at this hour, but the majority of the Northeast is now out of the woods in terms of the storm’s impacts. AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno and Broadcast Meteorologist Melissa Constanzer discuss the storm’s biggest impacts and snowfall reports on the latest edition of AccuWeather’s Weather Insider podcast. They also look ahead to the weekend AccuWeather forecast, which is calling for a significant threat of ice in the region. Give it a listen below.
Massachusetts State Police confirmed the fatality of a driver involved in a Friday accident. According to officials, the individual was the lone occupant of the car involved in a one-vehicle accident in Freetown, Massachusetts. State police say the vehicle went off the road on the northbound lane of Route 140. An investigation into the accident was underway on Friday.
Elsewhere in the state, a commuter bus in Newton was involved in a morning crash that left multiple lanes blocked and triggered travel delays on the snowy morning. The accident occurred in the westbound lane of Interstate 90. NBC Boston reported that the speed limit on Interstate 495 was reduced to 40 mph for the duration of the storm.
A small truck removes snow from an unplowed road, Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, in East Derry, N.H. A winter storm is expected to drop about a half a foot of snow in the area. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Over a foot of snow has fallen in both Westwood and Norwood, Massachusetts, with Norwood recording a state-high 12.9 inches. In total, 13 different towns and cities in the Bay State have topped 10 inches from this storm, all of which are located in the eastern half of the state.
Closer to Boston, 7.1 inches of snow have been recorded at Logan International Airport while 9 inches have been recorded in the suburb of Chelsea.
Snow blankets the back porch of a residence in Woburn, MA. (Photo via Sal Puleo)
Travelers planning to fly out of airports across the Northeast this morning were left frustrated as flights were grounded as snow piled up on the runways. Over 830 flights were canceled across the region amid the snowstorm, according to data from FlightAware. New York’s LaGuardia airport canceled over 35% of its flights scheduled for Friday with more cancelations possible. Officials at the airport told passengers to only go to LaGuardia if they had confirmed their flight with their airline. A similar story was unfolding at Boston’s Logan International Airport, where snow is predicted to continue throughout most of the morning. These cancellations could cause an accordion effect across the county, leading to delays and cancellations at airports that are not being directly impacted by the late-week storm.
“No one does it like New York and anyone that thinks they can bet against New York, there is another thing coming,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told the New York Post. “A snowstorm is not going to stop us, an economic storm is not going to stop us. We are going to forge ahead.”
As of 7 a.m. Friday morning, the city had recorded 8.4 inches of snow at LaGuardia Airport and 5.5 inches at both John F. Kennedy International Airport and Central Park. Central Park is the official location for weather records in New York City.
Over a foot of snow has fallen in some parts of New England as the wintry weather continues to unfold on Friday morning. In Connecticut, three different areas have topped 12 inches, led by the borough of Danielson which has recorded 12.8 inches. The region’s highest total is in Rhode Island, where the town of Burrillville has reached 13 inches as of 9 a.m. local time.
In the Boston metro area, multiple locations in eastern Massachusetts had topped 8 inches by 8 a.m., including the city of Franklin which had reached 10 inches.
With 9.9 inches of snowfall on Thursday, Lexington, Kentucky broke its 112-year-old daily record for Jan. 6. The city recorded 9.5 inches back in 1910, and the new daily record also ranks No. 7 all-time for snowiest days in city history, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Throughout Lexington, the historic snowfall caused widespread issues on Thursday. As of 4:25 p.m., city police reported over 100 accidents, 18 of which resulted in injuries.
As of 7 a.m., the storm’s heaviest snow accumulation in the Northeast belonged to North Haven, Connecticut, a town in the south-central portion of the state. There, the National Weather Service is reporting multiple locations with over 10 accumulated inches, with more expected on the way.
According to CT Insider, the heavy snow led to multiple overnight car accidents, including a vehicle that crashed down an embankment on Interstate 95 in Greenwich. Shortly before 6 a.m., the state’s Department of Transportation said Friday would be a “good day to stay home.”
Amid Washington D.C.’s second blast of snow of the week, messy secondary roads led to multiple crashes and standstill traffic, although not nearly as long as the early-week catastrophe on I-95. In Hyattstown, Maryland, a semi-truck jackknifed on Interstate 270 early Friday morning, Maryland State Police said. The accident occurred around 2 a.m. and blocked southbound lanes, NBC Washington reported, until the roadway was reopened shortly after 5 a.m.
Still, the short standstill gave a few residents a minor case of PTSD.
"I'm praying we don't get jammed up like they did in Virginia, where they were sitting for 16, 20 and 30 hours," driver Robert Lear said, noting the emergency supplies in his car. "I got my car shut off, saving gas in case we are here for that amount of time."
As the snow continues to fall heavily over the Tri-State region, accumulation totals of over 5 inches have been recorded in multiple spots surrounding New York City. The borough of Queens owns the city's highest snow recording as of 6:30 a.m., local time, with a whopping 6 inches of snow. Farther east, multiple other locations on Long Island have also topped 5 inches, including West Hempstead with 5.5 inches and Seaford, which has the region's largest snow accumulation, of 6.5 inches.
Snowplows clearing streets in New York City
The Baker-Polito Administration directed all non-emergency Massachusetts employees working in Executive Branch agencies to not report to work Friday due to the inclement weather, the administration said in a Thursday statement.
Registry of Motor Vehicles employees will be contacted by their supervisors for their assignments and schedules, it added.
“Our Administration is closely monitoring this storm and we want everyone to stay off the roads and to take public transit if possible tomorrow,” Gov. Charlie Baker said. “In addition, we urge employers to be flexible with workers and plan for difficult conditions on the roads tomorrow.
Crews will be out treating roadways and plowing around the clock, and we ask everyone to give them the room they need to clear the roads.”
Snow has continued to advance northward and northeastward overnight, having begun falling in Boston within the past hour. Moderate snow is falling in Hartford, Connecticut, where an inch quickly accumulated between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour will be possible in the heaviest areas of snow, which can make it difficult for road crews to keep roads clear.
AccuWeather meteorologists are expecting 3-6 inches before the snow ends around noon in Hartford. Snow will continue into the early afternoon in Boston, and 6-10 inches is forecast before the snow ends. Any slush or standing water will freeze solid on Friday night, as temperatures plunge into the teens.
Snow began to fall in New York City just before 1:45 a.m. Friday morning. The snow has had to overcome dry air near the surface, which caused the radar to appear like it has been snowing for a while longer, even though it is just beginning. The snow became quickly moderate to heavy in some areas, due to the cold ground allowing the snow to accumulate shortly after it fell. Residents of the Big Apple can expect 3-6 inches of snow by the time it ends around midmorning.
Winds are also increasing in the area, which could lead to snow-covered roads. As temperatures will plummet into the teens and lower 20s Friday night, any slushy areas or standing water are likely to freeze overnight. This cycle of melting during the day and freezing overnight will continue through the weekend. Early next week, temperatures are expected to stay below freezing during the day and at night, keeping the snow on the ground.
Snow began to fall in Washington, D.C. just after midnight, and AccuWeather says residents could wake up to as much as 1-3 inches by sunrise. Although the snow is expected to be over by the end of the morning commute, some roads may still be covered by snow, especially less-traveled routes.
This is the second snow event this week in Washington, D.C. On Monday, 6.9 inches was officially measured at Reagan National Airport. Last winter, only 5.4 inches fell for the entire season.
The snowstorm on Thursday slicked roads in parts of Virginia, creating dangerous driving conditions. As the storm moved into other states, officials continued to warn the public to avoid travel if possible. (Twitter/@VSPPIO)
Crews in Maryland are preparing for the second storm to hit the state this week as the system slowly moves toward the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Thousands of snowplows were out Thursday evening pre-treating major roadways ahead of the storm, but officials are still encouraging people to work from home if possible or reschedule plans to avoid traveling. If going out is unavoidable, motorists are encouraged to use extreme caution and slow down. “People will see a posted speed limit and say ‘Great, I’m going that speed limit,’ but people need to remember that speed limit is posted for ideal conditions, which we’ve not had this week,” Maryland State Highway Administration Spokesperson Sherry Christian said in a press release. “And we’re not looking forward to tonight into tomorrow, so we always ask folks to slow it down even more. Don’t rely on that posted speed limit during inclement weather.”
Additional reporting by AccuWeather National Reporter Emmy Victor.
The ongoing winter storm in the eastern U.S. is nowhere near finished, but AccuWeather meteorologists are already raising awareness about the next batch of wintry weather headed for the Northeast this weekend. The main threat from the upcoming storm is not snow, but widespread ice. “The greatest risk of several hours of icy travel will be from Saturday night to early Sunday in the central Appalachians and early Sunday over interior New England,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said. The ice could be a significant disruption for people heading out on Sunday to attend church or run errands in parts of Pennsylvania, New York and into interior New England. The weekend storm will be followed up by a blast of Arctic air that will freeze the Midwest and Northeast.
The storm currently delivering snowfall from the Tennessee Valley into the Northeast is moving quickly, but AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter saidit will still be intense enough to continue to bring dangerous road conditions and significant travel delays from parts of the south through the Middle-Atlantic and Northeast. The storm is expected to cause snow to fall at 1-2 inches per hour in some locations. “When it is snowing that fast, despite the best efforts of road crews, it is hard to keep up with the accumulation and keep roads clear of snow,” Porter said. “Highway chaos can quickly ensue with the risk for roads to be clogged by stranded vehicles and crashes."
The commute Friday morning in particular, from eastern New Jersey, the New York City area, Long Island, southern and eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts could be “a nightmare,” he added. Low visibility and slippery travel conditions will be the two key factors to look out for as heavy snow falling on cold roads could lead to dangerous road conditions. “Airport operations in these areas will also be significantly impacted through Friday and potentially linger into Saturday with the risk for long delays and cancellations,” Porter said. “If you are able to avoid travel during the heavy snow, that would be strongly advised in these areas.”
Thursday's snowstorm continues to exit Kentucky and make way for the Northeast, leaving behind plenty of snow and cold. The state had as much as 9 inches of snow reported as a result of the storm. Several other areas reported snow totals of 8 inches or above. Lexington, Kentucky reported snowfall of around 6 inches. Central City and Greenville, Kentucky both received at least 6 inches of snow. Lower amounts were recorded around Wickliffe and Reidland, Kentucky with 3 inches. While winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings have been canceled, the concern for ice on the roads remains possible for Kentucky overnight and into Friday morning.
Heavy snowfall and frigid temperatures kept roads covered, pushing back against progress made by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) salt trucks and plow crews earlier this evening, the department said over Twitter. When snow falls at 1-2 inches per hour, it can be difficult to keep up with the accumulations, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. By the time the snow came to an end across the state around 5 p.m. EST, 6.5 inches of snow had fallen over Central City, Kentucky, according to the National Weather Service. In Mayfield, the town hit by a tornado outbreak during December, 4 inches of snowfall was measured.
Parts of central Kentucky notched impressive snowfall totals by the time evening arrived on Thursday. Topping the list was Bardstown, a city about 40 miles southeast of Louisville, with 8.8 inches of accumulation piled up as the sun began to set. Other locations picked up 8 inches or more as the snowstorm wreaked havoc on area roadways. Like other places across the region, the temperature will plunge throughout the evening in Bardstown, bottoming out with an AccuWeather RealFeel® of 5 degrees. As heavy snowfall continued across the state, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency that will continue into the evening across the state.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency ahead of the winter weather that could bring as much as 6 inches of snow to parts of the state. The state of emergency is set to start at 10 p.m. EST. There will at least be a delayed opening in state offices on Friday, Murphy said. Snowfall rates may approach up to 2 inches per hour are expected in parts of New Jersey Friday, as well as wind gusts of up to 20 to 35 mph. Murphy highlighted two major safety concerns that could arise Friday: reduced visibility that could impact travel and downed power lines.
See the briefing here:
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has deployed the Kentucky National Guard to assist the State Police in dealing with accidents on snow-covered roads across the state. “Again, please stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary,” Beshear said in a statement on Thursday afternoon. One of the most significant accidents of the day occurred on Interstate 64 in western Kentucky, involving multiple vehicles and tractor-trailers. A section of Interstate 75 in Fayette County was also shut down for a time, but both roads have since reopened, according to LEX18.
Multiple accidents and traffic jams across Tennessee snarled travel on Thursday as snowy conditions hampered visibility. Near Nashville, the Highway Patrol, Metro Nashville Police and Department of Transportation helped to get a vehicle that had swerved into a ditch back onto the road — along with the driver and a few pets that had been inside. All were uninjured. The Jackson Branch of the Tennessee Highway Patrol tweeted out that roads were continuing to worsen in the northern countries as well as those along I-40, asking people to refrain from traveling if possible.I-65 south at mile marker 113, which had previously been closed, was reopened. However, officials cautioned that officers were continuing to work on multiple vehicle crashes in the area.
Multiple accidents took place on Interstate 65 near Columbia, Tennessee, on Jan. 6. Multiple cars spun out, with crashes causing traffic to back up for hours.
The ongoing snowstorm is starting to shift from the Tennessee Valley to the Northeast with accumulating snow spreading across West Virginia and knocking on the door of southern Pennsylvania. Snow has already piled up between 1 and 2 inches across central West Virginia, including the capital of Charleston. Meanwhile, snow is tapering off in Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee, where accumulations of 3 to 6 inches have been common. The end of the snow across the Tennessee Valley will help crews clear snowy roads and clean up after the accidents that occurred throughout the day amid the storm.
The miserable weather in Nashville won’t leave with the snow tonight. After the storm and snowfall move on, the temperature in Nashville is forecast to plummet to an Accuweather RealFeel® low of 4 degrees Thursday night. As of 2:30 p.m. CST, Nashville was seeing a RealFeel® of 21 degrees. Less than a week ago, Nashville had been basking in a high temperature of 78 degrees, with the low dropping to 57 degrees. The average high and low temperature for this time of year is around 46 degrees to 28 degrees, respectively. With these unusually low temperatures for the area, it is imperative not to leave animals outdoors for long periods of time.
The snowstorm will continue to chug along after it pushes out to sea and begins to charge up the East Coast Thursday night, but as it does so, it will undergo a rapid intensification referred to as bombogenesis by meteorologists. A bomb cyclone is defined as a storm that’s central pressure plummets by 0.71 of an inch of mercury (24 millibars) within 24 hours. What does that mean for people in the path of the storm? For one, intense snow rates of 1-3 inches per hour could occur in northeastern portions of Maryland, including around Baltimore, southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and up toward New York City late Thursday night to around daybreak on Friday as the storm pulls in more moisture.
At the same time, the rapidly strengthening storm will whip up strong winds, even causing blowing and drifting of snow in some areas, which will add to hazards on the road. All-out blizzard conditions are likely to unfold across eastern Maine, where winds will frequently reach 40 mph or higher, and snow and blowing snow will reduce the visibility to under 1/4 of a mile at times. These intense conditions could occur for a time Friday in eastern Massachusetts.
In Pennsylvania, that state’s Department of Transportation said crews have been pre-treating roadways with a brine solution since Wednesday in anticipation of the Northeast’s first significant snowfall. PennDOT’s District 11, which covers parts of southwestern Pennsylvania, has about 120 snowplow operators working to clear state roads and highways Thursday in the Pittsburgh area, including Beaver and Lawrence counties, according to Steve Cowan, District 11 spokesperson. It’s also dealing with a shortage of snowplow operators across the commonwealth, but officials said they have contingency plans in place to ensure shifts are covered. “We’re in pretty good shape,” Cowan said Thursday, adding that drivers are working the standard 12-hour shifts.
In Pittsburgh, about 22 salt trucks and snowplows are planning to hit the roads once the snow starts to fall throughout Allegheny County and public works crews will continue to treat the more than 360 roadways it manages into the overnight hours, county Public Works Director Stephen Shanley said. “The department is monitoring the weather and may adjust its plans based on the latest forecasts,” he noted, adding the city’s been “busy preparing for the first impactful snowfall for several months.” The department currently has 9,198 tons of salt and 3,705 gallons of liquid calcium chloride in stock for the winter season, Shanley said. If needed, he added, workers will be kept on overtime shifts and more drivers brought in until all streets are cleared. Shanley reminded residents that it takes workers about one to two hours to complete their routes, depending on traffic.
The public school district in Philadelphia and elementary schools run by the Catholic Diocese announced they will also be closing their schools Friday and shifting to online instruction due to the snow forecast.
Vehicles in the bike lane are typically a nuisance for cyclists, but a new initiative by the New York City Sanitation force may make some vehicles a very welcomed addition to the lanes. The department announced on Thursday that It would be piloting a program to test vehicles in bike lanes that will help clear snow and ice. The vehicles would put down a form of liquid salt and be equipped with a plow to keep the lanes safe. To see the new vehicles in action, watch the video below.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is urging drivers to stay off roadways in southeast Missouri as the snow continues to push through the area, creating slick spots on roadways. Nearly 25 semi-trucks are off the road and numerous other accidents are being reported on parts of Interstate 55 in southeastern Missouri, according to the NWS in Paducah, Kentucky.
Missouri Department of Transportation has closed all lanes southbound on I-55 from mile marker 35 to 63 due to several motor vehicle incidents. The first accident that shut down part of the interstate came around 9 a.m., local time, Thursday morning. Closure estimates are upwards of three to four hours according to MoDOT. MSHP Troop E Sgt. Clark Parrott advised people to stay off the roads and allow MoDOT crews to plow and treat the roadways, KFVS reported.
The snowstorm is not over yet in Tennessee, but the storm is already one of the biggest in recent memory in the state’s capital. Nashville International Airport has measured at least 4 inches of snow as of midday with snow still falling. This makes Jan. 6, 2022, the snowiest day in the city since 8 inches of snow accumulated on Jan. 22, 2016. It has also snowed more in Nashville today than it did during any winter between 2016 and 2020. During this time, the winter of 2017-2018 was the snowiest with a total of 3 inches accumulating at the city’s airport.
On the latest edition of AccuWeather’s Weather Insider podcast, AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno and AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Melissa Constanzer sit down to discuss the winter storm impacting parts of the Tennessee Valley and what it’s expected to bring to the Northeast. They also discuss the big winter storm that snarled traffic in Virginia earlier this week. Give it a listen below.
Crews from the Virginia Department of Transportation are heading out onto Interstate 95 to pre-treat the highway with a brine solution ahead of the impending snow. This includes a section of the road that was shut down earlier this week amid snowy conditions leaving some motorists stranded for over 24 hours. Motorists should be cautious around these trucks as they travel around 35 mph “to ensure material can be absorbed by the pavement,” the Virginia Department of Transportation said. Vehicles should also keep their distance from the trucks as they apply the brine to the roads.
Boston is wasting no time preparing for the first snowstorm of the season. Ahead of the impending snowstorm, Boston Public Schools announced that all public schools will be closed on Friday, Jan. 7 to keep students and staff safe. The public works crews across Massachusetts are also gearing up for the event, amid a shortage in workers from the pandemic, NBC Boston reported. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has 3,900 pieces of state and vendor equipment ready to go and they are closely monitoring the forecast. According to NBC Boston, “towns are asking for people to remain patient and to stay off the roads so crews can get the job done.”
The Department of Transportation in Connecticut normally operates with 643 drivers, but because of COVID call-outs and a shortage of drivers, the state will be tackling Friday’s storm will less than half of that number, WFSB reported. Roads will take longer to clear as a result of the driver shortage.
CT Emergency Management Director Rick Fontana told WFSB “All hands we have will be working on getting these streets as cleared as possible.”
Major Northeast cities such as Philadelphia, New York City and Boston are set to see their first significant snowfalls of the season with this storm, and all three areas are far behind their annual averages. In Philadelphia, residents have seen just 1 inch total of snow so far this season, far behind its annual average of 4.6 inches by Jan. 6. An even greater deficit is true in New York City, where just 0.2 inches have fallen this whole season, a far cry from the historical average of 6.7 inches by this date.
The largest gap, however, belongs to Boston. There, Beantown residents are accustomed to seeing an average of 12.3 inches of total snow by Jan. 6. But instead of that foot-plus, this season they’ve seen just 0.4 inches.
A major winter storm moving over the Tennessee Valley could be seen on satellite at around noon on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Snow accumulating on roads and weather-related accidents have made driving around the Nashville area “treacherous,” the Metro Nashville Police Department said late Thursday morning. Crashes have been reported across the region, including on Interstates 24, 40 and 65. “If you are able, please stay off the roads,” the Nashville Department of Transportation warned. Around 4 inches of snow has already accumulated in the city, with more snow predicted into the afternoon. By the time the final snowflake has fallen, the storm total could approach 5.2 inches, the total snowfall measured in Nashville all of last winter.
A jackknifed tractor trailer has made difficult road conditions even more treacherous in Tennessee on Thursday morning. The truck wrecked into a median outside the area of Jackson, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol soon shut down all westbound lanes of Interstate 40 in the surrounding area, WSMV reported. Dashcam footage captured shortly after the accident showed the toppled truck sprawled over the snow-covered grass, with a fellow driver helping them out. Officials with the highway patrol have urged drivers to find an alternate route.
Police in Tennessee responded to the scene of a jacknifed tractor-trailer near Jackson on I-40 Thursday morning as a snowstorm made travel treacherous.
Heavy snow was passing through western Kentucky on Thursday morning, coating areas that were ravaged by a historic tornado outbreak less than one month ago. Much of the western part of the state will receive 3-6 inches of snow by the time the storm is over. Due to the impacts of the winter weather, all FEMA disaster recovery areas in the tornado-stricken areas are closed Thursday, the Kentucky Office of Emergency Management said.
On Dec. 10-11, an outbreak of violent and long-lasting tornadoes ravaged the state. One of which was a historic, long-track EF4 tornado that leveled the community of Mayfield and destroyed an entire candle factory. At least 77 deaths in the state were blamed on the tornado outbreak, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. To make matters worse, another severe weather outbreak on New Year’s Day produced an EF2 twister in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Winter storm warnings were in place for many of these communities Thursday as the snow spread across the region. Officials are urging residents to avoid any unnecessary travel. In nearby southeastern Missouri, the National Weather Service is reporting treacherous road conditions on Interstate 55.
Major cities across the Northeast will be getting the first significant snowfall of the season, but the accumulations of 3-6 inches in places like Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, as AccuWeather meteorologists are forecasting, will pale in comparison to what piled up on these days 26 years ago. On Jan. 6-8 1996, a ferocious winter storm that would come to be known as the Blizzard of '96 roared up the Eastern Seaboard. AccuWeather's Kevin Byrne took a look back at what became one of the defining winter storms of the 20th century. At least 60 fatalities were blamed on the blizzard, and snow totals reached as high as 48 inches. The storm hit the Philadelphia area particularly hard. To this day, the Blizzard of '96 remains Philadelphia’s single biggest snowstorm on record in terms of 24-hour accumulations. Afterward, snow piles in the city were so deep that the workers resorted to dumping it off bridges into the river. And most people today forget about the second disaster that quickly followed – and led to dozens more fatalities.
A truck dumps a load of snow into the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 8, 1996. (AP Photo/Nanine Hartzenbusch)
Losing power is never fun, but during a winter storm, it can be life-threatening. Preparing ahead of time is crucial, so here are a few things you should know.
• Know how to stay warm: When you can’t turn the heat on, use towels and blankets to block drafts and keep the cold out. Windows can be insulated with black blankets to draw heat from the sun, while running hot water can also draw heat into the house. To keep pipes from freezing, turn faucets to a trickle and open cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate.
• Avoid carbon monoxide dangers: Carbon monoxide poisoning is a serious hazard during power outages, as generators located near doors, windows and vents can allow carbon monoxide to come indoors. Make sure generators are properly ventilated and carbon monoxide detectors are installed.
• Stock up on non-perishables: It is best to maintain a three-day supply of water and non-perishable food during the winter months, with items such as fruit bars, peanut butter, nuts and trail mix making for great stockpile items. Batteries, flashlights and a radio are also crucial supplies.
• Stay inside: Don’t take risks on the road during a winter storm. Along with the hazardous road conditions of snow and ice, downed power lines can also lead to traffic accidents. If travel is necessary, keep a disaster supply kit in your car and avoid traveling alone.
The city of Nashville could get more snow from this one storm than it typically does in an entire year. Tennessee's capital city averages 4.7 inches of snow per year, but it could receive as much as 6 inches from this storm alone. Snow in the state has already begun falling on Thursday and, according to AccuWeather meteorologists, will continue spreading across the northern portions of Tennessee through Thursday night before tapering off. While areas farther south and west are more likely to receive 1 to 3 inches of snow, Nashville and locations farther north in Virginia and West Virginia are more likely to get 3 to 6 inches.
At Nashville International Airport, a recording of more than 3 inches of snow in a single day has occurred only once in the past decade, on Jan. 22, 2016.
