Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has issued a state of emergency in Maryland ahead of the storm, reported CBS Baltimore.
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The mayor apologized to the city, saying more trucks should have been sent out to lay salt ahead of the snow – a mistake she said won’t be repeated ahead of the much bigger storm arriving Friday. Blizzard watches have been issued from Arkansas through Virginia and up the East Coast.
This storm likely creates a ripple air travel effect for Indianapolis International.
Major travel impacts are expected Friday, and it could last into Saturday as temperatures are expected to remain below freezing until Sunday afternoon. Many forms of public transit will not be running Friday in the DC metropolitan ares; this includes the metro rail which is a well utilized form of transportation in the city.
As of about 10 a.m. Thursday, Ricketts says that total accumulations could average 18 to 24 inches – a little less in southern Maryland (around 12-18 inches) and possibly even more to the west of Dulles Airport to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
A combination of heavier-than-expected snow and untreated roads plunged commuters in the nation’s capital into a vision of traffic hell Wednesday, two days before forecasters warned a “potentially paralyzing winter storm” would strike the region.
That would exceed the calamitous “Knickerbocker Storm” of 1922, which dumped 28 inches and killed almost 100 people when the roof of a theater by that name collapsed under the weight of the snow. It will deepen and strengthen causing snow to pick up in intensity across the area heading into the weekend. The N.C. Department of Transportation prepared equipment and began treating roads and bridges.
The latest snowfall prediction from the National Weather Service calls for between 4 and 6 inches along the south coast of Rhode Island and MA.
As of Thursday afternoon, blizzard warnings were in effect for Washington and Baltimore, and watches were in place for the Philadelphia and New York City areas – altogether covering almost 30 million people.
Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia noted that the city is expecting blizzard conditions, gale-force winds and white-out conditions on the roads.
On Sunday, the snow will exit the hardest hit region of West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, with strong gusty winds along the coastal Northeast.
“We will treat this as a Homeland Security event”, Bowser said.
Saturday: Snow. High near 29.
“We’ve all been lulled asleep a bit by how warm a winter it’s been”, de Blasio said at a press conference.
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“I would suggest that people pay attention to this system”, Uccellini said.
