A weather turmoil along the east coast of the United States comes with a dangerous mix of heavy snow and strong winds, hitting millions of Americans this Saturday — and could become a historic storm for parts of eastern New England, according to with meteorologists.
The combination of biting winds of approximately 112 km/h in some areas, along with the rapid accumulation of snow, is a recipe for blizzard conditions, particularly in the New England states.
Some 55 million people, from the Mid-Atlantic regions to New England, were under weather alerts as of Saturday morning.
Blizzard conditions are expected across the region, and several governors have declared a state of emergency as they urge residents to stay off the roads. There are also warnings of coastal flooding and the possibility of power outages due to faulty supply lines.
And while the storm’s path was uncertain in the run-up to this winter storm, the key points became clearer on Saturday.
Between 5 to 15 centimeters of snow had fallen in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast – with more on the way.
More than a foot of snow is expected to cover parts of the Mid-Atlantic coast across eastern New England, the NWS Weather Prediction Center said Friday afternoon.
The Boston subway area faces the potential of more than 2 meters of snow that can accumulate quickly. Snow is designed to fall at rates of 5 to 10 centimeters per hour in some locations.
Blizzard warnings reached 10 million people in 10 states from coastal counties from New England to Virginia.
Notable locations included Portland, Maine; Boston and Cape Cod, Massachusetts; the eastern half of New York’s Long Island; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Ocean City, Maryland.
historic storm
Travel will be difficult to impossible due to zero visibility conditions created by heavy snow and high winds, the NWS predicted. In a blizzard, snow is bound together by winds and gusts of more than 35 km/h for more than three hours, creating visibility of less than a quarter of a mile.
“Strong and strong winds will lead to scattered power outages,” the NWS warned.
There is “high confidence” that this will be a “great historic winter storm for eastern New England, with widespread snowfall of one to two feet,” the National Weather Service said Friday night.
In addition, extremely low temperatures and coastal flooding are possible, the Meteorological Prediction Center warned.
“Coastal flooding is a concern thanks to astronomically high tides on Saturday,” the Boston Weather Service office said. “The combination of strong northeasterly and high seas winds will bring storm surges that, if they coincide with high tide, will lead to small or moderate coastal flooding.”
The difference in the timing of storms – even just six hours – would make a huge difference to the impact on flooding and coastal erosion concerns.
More than 3,000 flights had already been canceled as of Friday night, according to FlightAware.
This content was originally created in English.
original version
Source: CNN Brasil
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