First snowstorm of the season to hit 19 states in hours as power outages and flight chaos
The first widespread snowstorm of the season is set to bring a wintry mix to millions in just hours, as forecasters warn it could cause flight delays and power outages.
Meteorologists with AccuWeather have predicted that a mix of rain and snow will blanket the Northeast, with many areas seeing a coating of wet snow and between one and six inches falling at higher elevations through Saturday night.
Starting Thursday night, this wet mix is expected to impact at least 19 states, from Maine to North Carolina along the East Coast, and from Michigan to Tennessee in the Midwest.
Wet snow is expected to fall in the northern portions of New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia on Thursday.
However, the forecast quickly switches to sleet and snow across more of the region on Friday, adding parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina to the snowy mix.
The low-pressure system moving into the Northeast is expected to get a boost from another storm forming above it in the upper atmosphere, causing serious disruptions as temperatures plummet into the 20s and 30s over the weekend.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said in a statement: ‘Periods of rain and low clouds could cause flight delays from Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning, with timing varying by location.’
Conditions in New England have already led to 80-minute delays on flights landing at Boston Logan International Airport Thursday morning.
The first widespread snowstorm of the season in the US Northeast is expected to bring several inches of snow to multiple states
Flight delays have been issued at Boston’s Logan Airport. Forecasters believe deicing, fog, and low clouds will be an issue throughout the weekend (File Image)
The weekend storm is expected to drop the most snow in the mountains of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, northern New York and Michigan.
AccuWeather’s worst-case forecast said it is possible for as much as 12 inches of snow to fall in isolated locations.
With the storm likely to produce a mix of rain and snow, Sosnowski warned that the weight of wet, clinging snow may break tree branches and damage power lines in some areas.
The weather service noted that the storm is not expected to become a major nor’easter with high winds and widespread snowfall.
That is because the air mass will spend most of the week traveling over land and away from the Atlantic Ocean, which typically fuels winter storms.
Even without a major boost from the Atlantic, forecasters predicted that the storm could still behave like a nor’easter as it moves through New England on Saturday and Sunday.
Additional snow showers are expected to stretch from Maine to West Virginia between Saturday and Sunday morning, creating pockets of poor visibility and hazardous road conditions for drivers throughout the Northeast.
This first blast of winter will also bring the coldest air of the 2026-2027 winter season to the entire eastern half of the US, sending temperatures five to 15 degrees below normal for mid-November, and even triggering frost alerts in the South.
This is a breaking story. More details to follow.
Flights landing at Boston Logan International Airport have been delayed due to low ceilings on November 12
AccuWeather predicts the eastern half of the US will see its coldest temperatures of the season this weekend