11:20 AM | *****Major nor'easter continues to impact the region through tonight; more accumulating snow on Saturday*****

Discussion

Phase 1 of our major nor’easter is over with its heavy snowfall, phase 2 is now well underway (snow changes to a wintry mix and precipitation slackens off in intensity), phase 3 will take place tonight with more accumulating snow and it actually could be the most interesting with some wild weather possibilities including "banding" of heavy snow and isolated "thunder snows". Snow will mix with or change to sleet, freezing rain and/or rain today and precipitation will lighten up in intensity at times as we enter the “dry slot” section of the storm (see latest radar map). Temperatures will rise to the mid-30's in many locations. Any mixed precipitation will change back to all-snow early tonight and phase 3 will feature snow at varying intensities overnight with more significant accumulations.

By tonight, we will enter the “cold conveyor belt” region of the storm (its northwest flank) and this type of snow is often characterized by “banding” with one location getting pounded while a nearby location is not receiving much at all. Additional snow accumulations overnight of anywhere from a couple to several inches will make total accumulations for this storm end up in the range of 10-14 inches for the big cities of DC, Philly and NYC to 14-20 inches in some of the northern and western suburbs. Winds will be very gusty at times today and tonight - up to 40 mph – so watch out for any loose limbs that are still caught up in the trees since this is really the first strong wind that we’ve had since the massive ice storm (in SE PA). Also, a thunderstorm with snow and/or sleet cannot be ruled out during the storm which winds down early Friday morning. Looking ahead, it looks like another system will bring more significant accumulating snows to the Mid-Atlantic region on Saturday. Today’s storm will turn out to be one of the all-time great storms in one of the all-time great winters in the Mid-Atlantic. As of early this morning, Philly Airport received 8.8 inches of snow from this current storm which makes this officially the 5th snowiest winter of all-time.