Possible nor'easter and cold snap forecast for Northeast and eastern US from Thursday

Mixed · 2Forecasters say a developing storm system could bring rain, gusty winds and the first snow of the season to parts of the Northeast from Thursday into Saturday, followed by a cold air mass over the eastern United States. 1 2 Mixed · 2A low-pressure wave is expected to organise over the Ohio Valley late Wednesday and move toward the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by late Thursday, according to FOX Weather copy carried by the New York Post; CBS News likewise describes a system developing over the Midwest on Wednesday and strengthening as it heads to the Northeast. 1 2 Mixed · 2Most of the precipitation in the big cities is expected to be rain. CBS News says cold rain is expected in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., and AccuWeather senior meteorologist Carl Erickson told the Post it looks like 'primarily a rain maker for much of the Northeast'. 2 3

Right · 1Snow is most likely at higher elevations and in the interior Northeast. FOX Weather names parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York, possibly extending into the Appalachians. Erickson said snow would probably require elevations above 1,800 to 2,000 feet, such as the mountains of West Virginia and perhaps the Adirondacks, with only light coatings, plus possible wet snowflakes in the Hudson Valley. 1 3 Right · 1For New York City, Erickson forecast rain from Thursday afternoon, heaviest late Thursday into Friday morning, with up to an inch of precipitation that could cause some street flooding and drainage problems. Snow along the I-95 corridor is unlikely to accumulate, according to FOX Weather. 3 1 Mixed · 2The track and impacts are uncertain. FOX Weather outlines one scenario in which the initial low moves inland and a secondary coastal low forms offshore, leaving the coast drier, and another in which the storm tracks closer to the coast with heavier rain and wind. It also says a track far out into the Atlantic is not favoured but cannot be ruled out. CBS News likewise says a second, smaller storm could form and that its path will determine how much snow or rain falls on coastal areas from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. 1 2

Mixed · 2Colder air is forecast to follow. CBS News expects temperatures 20 to 25 degrees below average from Wednesday through the end of the week, with highs in the mid-30s and 40s from Thursday through the weekend and near-freezing overnight feels-like temperatures in cities including Chicago and Atlanta. FOX Weather says more than 110 million people in the Northeast and surrounding areas could see afternoon temperatures in the 30s, and the cold could reach the Gulf Coast and Florida by Sunday. 2 1 Right · 1Erickson played down the severity for New York, saying 'It won't be a drastic Arctic cold surge' but a big change after temperatures in the 60s earlier in the week, with overnight lows in the mid to high 30s on Friday and Saturday. FOX Weather attributes the pattern to a dip in the polar jet stream and an unusually early disruption of the stratospheric polar vortex, and says the West will be 10-20 degrees above average. 3 1