Steady Snow, High Winds And Near-Zero Visibility Expected Over Next Several Hours
By Lauren Casey
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Snow to continue heavy and steady overnight across the Delaware Valley. Winds speeds to increase dramatically by midnight with winds at 30 to 35 mph and gusts to 50 mph through tomorrow afternoon. Expect greatly reduced visibility, to near zero at times, due to blowing snow.
Bands of convective snowfall to impact the area overnight into early tomorrow resulting in intense snowfall rates of 1-2" per hour. During this time frame, the occurrence of thundersnow is possible.
The steady snow looks to conclude tomorrow evening with snow showers lingering tomorrow night into early Sunday.
Expect final snow totals for Philadelphia and along the I-95 corridor of 18 to 24", for the Lehigh Valley and far southern New Jersey 12 to 18" of snow is likely and 6 to 12" along the Jersey and Delaware coastlines.
A Blizzard Warning remains in effect for Philadelphia and surrounding counties and a Winter Storm Warning for the Lehigh Valley.
For the Jersey coastline and Delaware beaches, a Winter Storm Warning, High Wind Warning and a Coastal Flood Warning remain in effect through Saturday night. Moderate to major flooding is expected down the shore due to intense on-shore winds gusting to 60+ mph.
The combination of strong winds as well as the heavy, wet nature of the snowfall will likely result in power outages through the duration of this event.
Travel to be extremely treacherous through the duration of this significant snow event.
