Thirteen states are under a winter storm warning or watch as Winter Storm Blair is expected to tear across the country this weekend and drop double-digit snow totals, the National Weather Service (NWS) says.
What Is Winter Storm Blair?
Winter Storm Blair is a weather system percolating off the west coast in the Pacific Ocean and landing ashore at the end of the week. According to the Weather Channel, Blair will deliver tropical moisture from the Pacific and “initiate an area of low pressure” over the central plains, dumping inches of snow and causing ice accumulations.
Why It Matters
The U.S. has been affected by major weather events around the holiday season. Most recently, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York are under a lake effect snow warning, as projections point to snow amounts not measured in inches, but in feet.
Winter Storm Blair is expected to drop “very heavy snow” in parts of the Midwest and the plains, the Weather Channel says, as it moves east impacting millions of people. The storm is also slated to take place over the weekend after a national holiday, potentially bottlenecking major airports across the country.
Which States Will Likely Be Affected by the Storm?
The states under the winter storm watch as of Thursday night are portions of Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana and Kentucky. The watch begins in some states on Friday or Saturday and ends on Sunday night or Monday.
Portions of Maryland, California, Montana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania are under a winter storm warning starting on Friday and ending Saturday.
What To Know
Here are the snow projections by the NWS as of Thursday night for each state:…