Winter storm blasts some parts of Northeast with more than a foot of snow as major travel hubs face Thanksgiving delays

As Thanksgiving travelers hit the road, a potent early-season snowstorm over the Northeast could potentially cause travel delays and disruptions.

Low pressure will spin over the region into Saturday, resulting in significant rain and snow for millions of people.

More than a foot of snow has fallen in parts of Upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, according to the FOX Forecast Center. This all comes courtesy of a potent upper-level low spinning over the Northeast. This low and its various spokes of energy rotating around it will result in a complex storm evolution featuring multiple areas of rain and snow.

The deteriorating winter weather conditions have put a halt to air travel at Greater Binghamton Airport in Johnson City, New York. Delays and cancelations have been reported at other major airport hubs in New York, Boston and Washington.

While lower elevations transition back to rain, the heavy and wet snow will continue to fall throughout Friday from West Virginia to parts of New England. The snow will not be as heavy as it was overnight, but it will still be enough to cause dangerous travel conditions and impacts to infrastructure, including scattered power outages, the FOX Forecast Center warned.

In the lower elevations of the mid-Atlantic, some snow bands could pivot as far southeast as the Interstate 95 corridor. So, while accumulations in the major urban areas from Washington to New York City are expected to be minimal, if any, these cities could see their first “falling” snow of the season by Friday afternoon.

Winter Storm Warnings remain in effect for areas of West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, while portions of Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky are also under winter weather alerts.

Along the Adirondacks, Green and White Mountains of New England, the upper-level low will draw moist easterly winds into these ranges from Friday night through Saturday, while another surface low develops east of Maine and pivots northwest, the FOX Forecast Center said.

Snow levels should be high enough that only the highest terrain will receive significant snow. Cities such as Boston and Portland, Maine, will remain all rain.

On the southern end of the system, snow will wind down across the southern Appalachians on Friday, the FOX Forecast Center said. 

Forecast rain totals in the Northeast and New England should remain in the 1-2 inch range, although locally higher amounts of 2-3 inches or more are possible in some areas.

The precipitation is expected to help ease some of the record-breaking drought conditions and reduce the wildfire threat that has been plaguing the region. Over 7 inches of snow has been reported in the area around the deadly Jennings Creek Fire that is smoldering along the New Jersey-New York border, the FOX Forecast Center said.

Behind this storm system, the coldest air of the season will pour south out of Canada in the days after Thanksgiving and into the start of December. Much of the country will experience below-average temperatures as travelers head home, the FOX Forecast Center said.

Across the northern Plains, lows may fall below -10 degrees in some of these areas, with even lower wind chills.