Major winter storm hits Northeast with ice, snow: NPR

Getting around could be a challenge for millions of people in the northeastern United States on Tuesday, as the region’s first winter storm of the season intensifies.

A low pressure system moving from Pennsylvania to Maine is expected to drop 6 inches or more of snow in several states and block travel Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters also say parts of Appalachia — particularly areas along the Virginia-West Virginia border — will experience widespread icy conditions that could create hazardous conditions on roads and sidewalks.

“Please be safe if you must travel, make sure your emergency supplies at home and in the car are stocked for the winter, and check in with your neighbors – especially seniors – who may need a helping hand,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement. Parts of Down East Maine could see up to a foot of snow.

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in five counties in the northern tip of the state expected to be hardest hit by the storm system.

The frigid forecast for the Northeast comes after heavy snow fell in several Midwestern states over the busy weekend. Between 6 and 11 inches of snow fell in northwest Indiana and northern Illinois, where Chicago set a new record for the most snowfall in one day in November. In Milwaukee, where local officials declared a snow emergency, snowfall totals ranged from 6 inches to 12 inches.

United Airlines planes are seen at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Sunday after a winter snowstorm hit the area.

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

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Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

Federal forecasters now say parts of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine could see at least a half-inch of snow by Wednesday morning. The heaviest snowfall could occur in a swath of land from the Poconos in Pennsylvania to coastal Maine, where snowfall of 5 to 10 inches is expected. More than an inch of snow could fall per hour, the NWS warned.

The system will leave the Northeast and enter Canada by Wednesday morning.

Nationwide, a separate winter storm system is expected to bring snow to parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming Tuesday evening through Thursday morning. The NWS office in Boulder warned residents to prepare for a “slow, slippery and dangerous Wednesday morning commute.”