A nor’easter could form this week, bringing the first snow of the season for tens of millions of Americans.
Frigid air and precipitation from the Northwest and Canada is expected to invade central and eastern states, setting up the potential for falling flakes from Thursday into the weekend.
Communities from the Northeast to New England face the most impacts from the storm, though only minor disruptions to ground travel are anticipated and the forecast is subject to change.
“Locations that could face their first snowflakes of the season include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Syracuse and Binghamton, New York,” Brandon Buckingham, an AccuWeather meteorologist, wrote in a statement.
“The mountainous terrain of the Poconos, Catskills and Berkshires will also face the risk of snow.”
Which regions could see snow?
Areas from the interior Northeast to the central Appalachians are the most likely to see snow - though forecasters don’t yet know how much.
That includes higher elevation areas of Massachusetts, upstate New York and as far south as Pennsylvania. Snow may struggle to to accumulate outside of higher elevations.
Winter lovers in major cities along the coast will probably be disappointed. That’s because the Atlantic Ocean waters are still very warm, according to Buckingham. Instead, the cities are forecast to see rain ahead of the weekend.
A seasonal chill
By Saturday, the storm is projected to pull away toward Canada with some lingering snow showers from rainy Maine through the Appalachian mountains, FOX Weather reports.
Regardless of how the storm takes shape, it could set the stage for a massive temperature drop across the East later in the week. Afternoon temperatures would reach around 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degrees Celsius) for more than 110 million people in the Northeast, with lows plummeting into the 20s Fahrenheit (-6.6 degrees Celsius).
That means hard freezes for the Midwest, Ohio Valley and South, as well as nights below freezing in Tennessee, Alabama and Atlanta.
Catch ya later, pollen
The freeze will provide some much welcome relief for people who suffer from fall allergies, marking the end of the growing season. Some 80 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergies that leave them sneezing and tearing through the fall.
Ragweed is the biggest culprit of fall allergies, with a single plant releasing up to a billion grains of pollen, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
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