A nor’easter is expected to bring widespread heavy wet snow, rain and gusty winds to parts of the Northeast starting Monday night and lasting into Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
As the storm moves east, it is expected to cause blizzard conditions, with moderate to heavy snow, reduced visibility and potentially up to six inches of snow in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., said.
Then, on Monday night, the storm will most likely strengthen over the Northeast, where the heaviest snowfall is expected across inland areas of the region, the Weather Service said.
Bob Oravec, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center, said that the weather system, which he called an “average winter storm,” will probably start with rain that may transition into heavier snow in some places.
“At the moment, there’s predominantly rain forecast for New York City and for Boston, rain changing over to snow with some accumulation,” Mr. Oravec said, adding that this system would probably not be the winter event of the season for the New York metro area, where snow has been scarce.
“It just happens to be that the storm track has been such that it has not favored the Northeast so far and, in a sense, we’re running out of time,” Mr. Oravec said. “We are definitely fighting the calendar and fighting the season.”
Nor’easters, which most frequently occur between September and April, are storms where winds off the East Coast collide with surface winds from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States amid areas of low pressure.
With this nor’easter, snow rates of up to two inches per hour are possible, and in higher elevation areas, snowfall could ultimately surpass a foot of accumulation, the National Weather Service said.
Total snowfall could be even higher in the Catskills and southern Adirondacks in New York, the Berkshires in western Massachusetts and the southern Green Mountains in Vermont.
Six inches or more could fall in Orange and Putnam Counties in New York, the western part of New Jersey’s Passaic County, and Fairfield County in Connecticut, the Weather Service in New York said. Less snow is expected in coastal areas.
Driving conditions are expected to be hazardous, and “widespread minor coastal flooding” may occur, forecasters said.
Around Tuesday night, wind gusts could reach up to 50 miles per hour along the eastern portion of Long Island, the Weather Service said.
“Strong winds from this nor’easter will likely produce dangerous to near impossible travel,” the Weather Service said, adding that the storm could cause power failures and damage trees.
The storm may linger into Wednesday, Mr. Oravec said, adding that precipitation would probably begin to wind down that morning.
