Everything appears to be going right on track with the winter storm. My latest snowfall accumulations are staying for now, but I may need to adjust them over the next upcoming hours depending on the actual track of the storm. Below is the current sea level pressure map of the Northeast.

The “L” off the New Jersey shore is the storm that is bringing the precipitation to the region. The lines around the low tell us a good story about what is happening. Across New York state you can see how the lines are almost vertical this indicates the wind direction from north to south. Areas around Lake George New York could would be seeing NE winds as the lines are more shifted toward the Northeast. Across southern New Jersey, you can see how the lines are moving in from the Northwest behind the low. This should help filter down the cold air. This will be how the storm operates all the way up into Canada. Behind the storm cold air gets pulled down changing any precipitation down from rain to mix or from mix to snow. Of course this depends on the surface temperatures across the region, if they are too warm then you aren’t going to see any wintry precipitation. Rain/snow mix is definitely possibly across New York City, northern New Jersey, Central New Jersey, as well as portions of western Connecticut and western Massachusetts later this evening and definitely overnight into tomorrow. Areas across New York state will see the brunt of this storm  with hefty snowfall totals for this time of the year. Vermont will get in on the action later tonight as the low pulls down colder air into the region.

The wind will be an issue across the region as this storm really gets going. The storm is expected to rapidly intensify and as a result we will see some stiff winds from the storm. Some locations could be gusting to 35 to 45 MPH, isolated locations could gust over that. This could make for some blizzard conditions across New York state later today as the wind and snow combination make visibility very dangerous. Winds will be felt across the entire Northeast so please make sure you secure any loose articles outdoors in sheds or garages.

Updates throughout the day!

Forecaster: Joe Gullo