Blizzard Warnings issued as powerful winter storm to blast Northeast, mid-Atlantic with more snow, wind

A new winter storm has millions of people from the Upper Midwest to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast preparing for dangerous winds and a potential blizzard or near-blizzard conditions in areas just slammed by a lake-effect snowstorm that buried cities in feet of snow.

The storm could even bring some snow to the heavily traveled Interstate 95 corridor.

The storm system, known as an “Alberta Clipper” due to its quick pace and origins inside its namesake Canadian province, has already moved into the U.S., and impacts will increase throughout the day across the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest.

Winter weather alerts stretch from North Dakota to Maine, including Blizzard Warnings that were issued in parts of West Virginia and Maryland in the mid-Atlantic due to the threat of snow and high winds that will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening.

The heaviest snow on Wednesday will once again be generated by lake effects and relegated to the eastern shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. 

Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for Michigan’s western snow belts and the Upper Peninsula for new snow totals exceeding a foot.

But scattered snow squalls are possible across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Wednesday, with widespread wind gusts reaching 40-50 mph bringing the potential for near-blizzard or whiteout conditions.

Storm shifts heavy snow, and high winds to the Northeast on Thursday

The clipper system will slide through the Northeast on Thursday, shifting the heavy snow to the eastern shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

“That wind is straight down out of Canada, pulling down more in the way of the cold air – part of the reason why so many folks across the eastern part of the country are dealing with below-average temperatures,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Ian Oliver said. “That also keeps the lake-effect snow machine rolling. So December is kicking off with a bang.”

Winter Storm Watches and Lake-Effect Snow Warnings are back in effect from late Wednesday through Thursday night. Another 7-12 inches of snow with isolated higher amounts are likely along the eastern shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Those areas have been digging out from the 3-5 feet of lake-effect snow accumulated since Friday.

Heavy snow is also likely in interior New England and into Maine from the moisture associated with the storm center as it tracks over that region Thursday.

Lighter but accumulating snow is expected across the lower elevations of upstate New York and western and northern Pennsylvania.

While high winds were not much of a factor in the previous lake-effect snowstorm, this time, ferocious winds will blow across the Northeast as the powerful low-pressure center pushes across the region.

Widespread gusts of 40-50 mph are likely, creating near-blizzard conditions along the lake-effect snow belts.

In total, more than 77 million people from the Dakotas to Massachusetts, including those in cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City, are included in Wind Advisories.

Winds could gust upwards of 50 mph in the Minneapolis area, while tropical storm-force wind gusts could also blast Cape Cod and Nantucket in Massachusetts.

Will it snow along the I-95 corridor?

Depending on the storm’s timing on Thursday, some areas along the I-95 corridor could at least see some wet snow or a rain/snow mix.

Neither New York, Philadelphia nor Boston have yet to see any measurable snow reported in the weather books this season. However, Central Park did report its first “trace” of snow on Tuesday.

For the I-95 corridor overall, this storm is not expected to bring much snow accumulation, but the high winds could still trigger sporadic power outages.