A Blizzard is Coming

A nor'easter moving up the coast from the Carolinas is expected to create blizzard conditions in the region tonight. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a blizzard warning for 7 this evening until 7 p.m. tomorrow. Up to between 12 and 18 inches of snow could fall, with drifts exceeding 24 inches. 

According to the NWS, it's not the amount of snow that makes a blizzard a blizzard. It's the wind. The NWS characterizes a blizzard as winds of 35 miles per hour or more blowing snow and reducing visibility to a quarter of a mile or less over a period of three hours or more. You can have a blizzard without falling snow, as the NWS says in this graphic posted to social media by NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly. The key phrase is "blowing snow." A blizzard in which the snow has stopped falling but is still being blown around and creating poor visibility is calls a "ground blizzard."

Winds tonight will be from the north at10 to 20 mph, increasing to between 20 and 30 mph after midnight, with areas of blowing snow after 4 a.m. New snow accumulation of between 4 and 8 inches  is possible. 

Saturday expect periods of blowing snow before 3 p.m., a north wind of around 30 mph gusting to around 50 mph, a daytime high of 26, and up to 5 or 9 inches of new snow.

Today's high will be around 36, dropping to a nighttime low of around 22.

(Image: National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly)