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AccuWeather meteorologists expect widespread snowfall totals of 12-18 inches where the heaviest snow falls. A bullseye of nearly 2 feet could target a small area just north and west of New York City, into the Pocono and Catskill mountains, with amounts of up to 44 inches.
AccuWeather Global Weather Center – February 1, 2021 – A monster nor’easter was crawling up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States on Monday, pounding the region with heavy snow and high winds, snarling travel, canceling flights and disrupting coronavirus vaccination efforts in numerous cities. AccuWeather forecasters had been monitoring for a major storm to develop since early last week, and had advised people across the eastern U.S. to “buckle up” for a long-duration event. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of up to 44 inches of snow is possible, along with a slew of different hazards.
Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were in effect across the Northeast as snow and ice began breaking out across the region Sunday, beginning farther south and gradually marching across the Northeast.
A band of heavy snow that set up over New York City unloaded 8 inches of snow in just 6 hours in Central Park, making Monday the snowiest day in the Big Apple since 2016 — and plenty of more snow was on the way.
By daybreak Monday, a few inches to a foot of snow had fallen across a broad swath stretching from the southern Appalachians to eastern Pennsylvania and central New Jersey. Higher amounts were observed in the mountains of North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.
The cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore both saw daily maximum snowfall records fall on Sunday as totals cleared previous record highs set decades ago. In Philly, 3 inches of snow was recorded at Philadelphia International Airport, tying a record of 3 inches previously set in 1949, according to the NWS. Initial reports from the NWS indicated the record in Philadelphia had been broken, but, upon further review, the NWS confirmed the daily record had been tied. Baltimore’s daily record of 3.7 inches had stood since 1985 but was also broken on Sunday after 3.8 inches were recorded at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
On Sunday night, New Jersey and New York City issued state of emergencies and New York City put travel restrictions in place to keep nonessential personnel off the roads.
This first wave of snow was a result of a storm that swept through the Midwest and Ohio Valley over the weekend, unleashing major disruptions in places like Chicago. This initial storm has since been in the process of weakening.
But, as AccuWeather meteorologists predicted days ago, a secondary storm began to take shape off the southeastern coast of Virginia late Sunday and that storm was showing signs of strengthening on Monday.
“The coastal storm will be the dominant storm of the two, strengthening into a full-blown nor’easter along the Atlantic coast,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Danny Pydynowski said.
As the two storms interact with one another, a broad area of snow will stretch from the Ohio Valley and southern Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic and New England.
“This broad swath of accumulating snow will persist for days,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said.
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