Major storm forecast for Northeast | US News

Major storm forecast for Northeast

By CNN on February 4, 2010

(CNN) -- New Jersey and Delaware look set for a blizzard starting Friday afternoon, and Washington and Baltimore, Maryland, may experience "near-blizzard conditions" starting Friday, the National Weather Service said Thursday.

The blizzard warning for New Jersey and Delaware takes effect Friday at 4 p.m., while the winter storm warning for the nations capital and surrounding areas starts Friday morning at 10 a.m.

The expected New Jersey blizzard will make travel "extremely dangerous," the agency cautioned. The warning means "severe winter conditions are expected," while snow, strong winds and poor visibility are likely, leading to "whiteout conditions."

The storm could drop up to 24 inches of snow on southern New Jersey and 12 to 18 inches on Delaware and the central New Jersey coast, the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said.

The blizzard warning remains in effect until Saturday at 7 p.m. It replaces an earlier winter storm watch, which is less severe.

Washington and Baltimore will be under a winter storm warning from 10 a.m. Friday until 10 p.m. Saturday.

That warning is issued when significant amounts of snow are expected or occurring.

The storm will make travel "very hazardous or nearly impossible Friday night," the agency warned.

Baltimore could receive 16 to 18 inches of snow, with isolated amounts of two feet; Washington, 12 to 16 inches with isolated amounts up to 20 inches; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, eight to 12 inches.

Winter storm watches also cover most of Pennsylvania, Virginia, eastern West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and western North Carolina. Up to two inches of snow are predicted for Newark, New Jersey, and New York.

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Winter storm warnings, indicating that severe weather is almost certain to occur, were issued for the southern and central Appalachians.

In the Southeast, heavy rain Thursday will cause widespread minor flooding and isolated moderate flooding across the region, forecasters said. Flood watches are in effect for southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southeastern Alabama, the central Florida Panhandle and most of Georgia.

CNN meteorologist Sean Morris contributed to this report.

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