By Kathryn Prociv - NBC News
With heavy snow expected to cover parts of the country's northeast this week, more than 47 million people have been placed on notice of a winter storm watch.
The storm, which began Sunday in the Pacific Northwest, is forecast to produce not only
significant snowfall
across the Northeast, but
also freezing rain and ice
in parts of central Virginia and North Carolina.
Snow is expected in the Rocky Mountains and the central plains Monday and Tuesday, along with rain and storms in the southern and southeastern plains, according to the National Weather Service.
A couple strolls during a snowstorm in Marlborough, Massachusets.
AP
On Wednesday, the storm will reach the east coast, where it will draw moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, to collide with the cold air from the north and strengthen into a coastal storm.
During the morning hours of Wednesday, a mixture of rain and snow will erupt from Washington, DC, to the north, while heavy rains and strong thunderstorms will impact from the southeast to the coastal Carolinas during the afternoon.
By Wednesday night,
areas from Washington, DC, to Philadelphia may experience a mix of rain and snow
, while it will likely snow from New York City to Boston and places in the interior of the Northeast.
Snowfall rates will be strong at times, and gusts of wind could cause blackouts, power outages and dangerous travel conditions, the National Weather Service said.
On Thursday, early morning snowfall is expected to continue in the Northeast and New England, but it will lessen throughout the day.
3-6 inches of snow may be reported from central Virginia to Maine.
A 6 to 12-inch swath is currently forecast, which in some locations will be higher, from Maryland to southern Massachusetts, with the highest possible snow totals along or west of the I-95 corridor.
Traveling on Wednesdays or Thursdays is not recommended in those areas.
The first winter storm of the season causes snowfall in Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, Washington could get up to 6 inches of snow;
Philadelphia and Boston up to 8 inches, and New York up to 12 inches.
Those totals could end up lower, especially in Philadelphia and Washington, where rain is also expected.
This could be one of the biggest snow storms of the last five years in New York City
.
The last storm to hit the Big Apple by 12 inches or more was in January 2016. The last storm to cover the city by at least 6 inches was in November 2018.
A winter storm hits the center and south of the country
Dec. 14, 202000: 31
One reason for the high confidence that this system will produce significant amounts of snow is that there is a lot of cold air before the storm, due to an area of strong high pressure over southern Canada that keeps the cold air in place.
This is an ingredient that has been missing from winter storms in recent years, resulting in mediocre winter storms and seasonal snowfall totals.
["My wife is dead, my grandchildren are dead." This survivor of the Eta storm says he lost 40 family members]
In fact, if this storm produces the currently forecast amount of snow, cities like
Washington, Philadelphia and New York could experience more snow from this storm than they did during all of last winter
, which saw record amounts of little snow.
During the 2019-2020 winter season, Washington had the third least snowy winter with 0.6 inches of snow;
Philadelphia had the city's second least snowy winter at 0.3 inches, and New York had the fourth least snowy winter on record at 4.8 inches.
