Overview
- Winter storm warnings and advisories are active from New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day across multiple states, with Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Alaska flagged for significant impacts.
- The Weather Prediction Center expects snow squalls to develop along an Arctic front late Wednesday and overnight from the Great Lakes through the Ohio Valley into the Northeast, coinciding with holiday travel.
- Downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario, lake-effect bands are forecast to deliver 1 to 2 feet of additional snow with locally more than 3 feet possible, particularly in parts of upstate New York including the Tug Hill region.
- Local forecasts call for up to 12 inches in parts of Michigan and several inches elsewhere, with gusts reaching about 40 to 45 mph likely to cause blowing and drifting snow and sharply reduced visibility.
- A Pacific low is expected to bring heavy rain to southern California early on New Year’s Day, including the Los Angeles area, with the NWS warning of a flash‑flood risk as rainfall spreads north across the state.