Nor’easter to bring weekend snow to Delaware Valley

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

A Blizzard Warning has been issued for parts of the Delaware Valley.

It goes into effect at 7 p.m. Friday and continues through 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Blizzard Warning includes: Delaware Beaches and Atlantic; Atlantic Coastal Cape May; Cape May; Coastal Atlantic; Coastal Ocean; Eastern Monmouth; Ocean; Southeastern Burlington; Western Monmouth in New Jersey.

A Winter Storm Warning also goes into effect at 7 p.m. Friday and continues through 7 p.m. Saturday for parts of the area.

This effects: Northwestern Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Salem counties in New Jersey; Delaware, Eastern Montgomery, Lower Bucks and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania.

A Winter Storm Warning ends at 3 p.m. Saturday for Kent and New Castle counties in Delaware.

An arctic front will move into the area around the time of the morning rush hour on Friday. This will bring a period of snow showers with the chance for a coating to 1″ of snow from Philadelphia on northwest toward the Lehigh Valley. The rest of the day features mostly cloudy skies with a high of 38. The nor’easter that will impact our region arrives Friday night into Saturday.

Storm details

Friday’s arctic front will bring a fresh injection of cold air ahead of the developing nor’easter. At this point, there remains high volatility between the models. One thing that adds to the uncertainty is that this storm will have high snow ratios thanks to the arctic airmass in place.

The amount of liquid to snow for this event could be as high as 18″ to 20″ for 1″ of liquid. Snow will quickly pile up, but this strengthening storm will also produce a lot of wind. This powdery snow will lead to a lot of drifting and blowing, which will reduce visibility, especially in coastal areas.

Timing

• Snow arrives between 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. on Friday.
• Steadiest: 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday
• Ends: Snow will end west to east between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Expected snow totals

Lehigh Valley & NW Suburbs: 1″ to 3″
I-95 Metro: 3″ to 6″ (Philadelphia is more on the 6″ line)
Central Delaware & Southeastern New Jersey: 6″ to 12″
Along the NJ coast: 12″ to 18″

Wind

Winds will be out of the north northwest on Saturday, which means it will be mainly blowing offshore. Coastal flooding is not much of a concern. Peak gusts inland will range between 40 to 45 mph. Peak gusts at the coast will range from 50 to 55 mph.

Looking ahead

• Sunday: Mostly sunny, brisk and cold, high 28. Wind chill values will be in the teens.
• Monday: Sunny and not as cold, high 36.
• Tuesday: Turning milder under partly sunny skies, high 46.
• Wednesday: Clouds with some sunny breaks, high 52.
• Thursday: Milder with the chance for some rain, high 58.