Michael Bastasch on January 3, 2018
A powerful winter storm is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast, threatening a 1,500-mile-long area with freezing weather and brutal winds.
Schools and businesses are closing, and officials are issuing warnings for cold air and brutal winds over the next two days. Officials are asking residents to stock up on supplies and prepare for possible power outages.
Thursday – Aside from the snow, our greatest concern is the strong wind and potential power outages given bitterly cold air to follow Friday into Saturday. Best to plan ahead and stock up your winter disaster kits. Check out https://t.co/y3UIoOMgtz for more information. pic.twitter.com/1bamuziunl
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 3, 2018
The storm, called Winter Storm Grayson by the Weather Channel, will bring snow to southern states on Wednesday morning. Americans living in Georgia and the Carolinas can expect anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of snow when they wake up to go to work.
By Thursday, the storm will be off the New England coast where it’s expects to dump up to a foot of snow over the region. The National Weather Service forecasts 11 inches of snow for Boston by Friday, but those numbers are subject to change.
The snowfall totals may seem small for a “bomb” winter storm. Weather.us meteorologist Ryan Maue noted while the “bomb” storm may not bring substantial snowfall, it would bring intense wind and cold air.
GFS 00z is a bit further west with the Nor'easter "bomb".
Now ladies and gentleman, this is a BEAST. But, I'm just not seeing the enormous snowfalls we'd expect with a blizzard. Again, it's the wind & extreme cold behind this storm that will be BRUTAL. pic.twitter.com/gAKUEjvPQg— Ryan Maue | weather.us (@RyanMaue) January 3, 2018
Wednesday afternoon in Savannah, Georgia on the Atlantic coast / beach:
near freezing ?️ with heavy snow ❄️ 3-6"+ accumulation pic.twitter.com/6U5RwI2MCJ— Ryan Maue | weathermodels (@RyanMaue) January 3, 2018
Mid-Atlantic states could see 3 to 6 inches of snow when Grayson hits. It’s just more bad news for residents already grappling with freezing temperatures brought on by a blast of Arctic air.
But Grayson won’t even be the end of it for the north east. Another blast of Arctic air is expected to hit on Friday and drive temperature down even further.
Upstate New York could see temperatures plummet to 50 degrees Fahrenheit below zero on Saturday. Below zero temperatures are expected all along the Mid-Atlantic, forecasters say.
