Winter Storm Blair is expected to leave a trail of snow, ice, and frigid temperatures across the middle of the country, with more than a foot of precipitation predicted in areas from Kansas to Washington, D.C.
According to a report from The Weather Channel, the storm has already begun to take shape in the Pacific Ocean, with upper-altitude rotation driving tropical moisture toward the West Coast, and is expected to follow along the Interstate 70 corridor once it fully forms.
Just how much snow and ice the different affected areas could see will depend on the storm’s eventual track, as experts have said that it could yet shift either to the north or south from the predicted path.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue noted that even outside the areas where snowfall was heaviest, people should be ready to deal with ice and slush due to freezing rain, which could dramatically impact traffic patterns across a much wider area of the country.
“Snowfall from the upcoming winter storm will be significant, probably 12″-18″ over a large area, but the freezing rain and sleet just to the south of the colder air will be hugely impactful,” Maue posted, sharing a series of graphics. “This will be a mess.”
Maue also shared a zoomed-out view of the storm’s total predicted impact, noting, “A winter storm traveling from Kansas to Washington D.C. early next week will blanket 12-18″ of snowfall blanketing a huge population of big cities. The snow will stick around for a while and help crater temperatures under calm, clear skies during Arctic Blast. Huge population impact!”
Meteorologist Mike Bettes shared another series of graphics, showing the heaviest snow predictions stretching from western Kansas into northern Virginia — just short of the nation’s capital. Snowfall is predicted as far south as Kentucky and as far north as Chicago and upstate New York.
A second graphic showed a band of damaging ice that was predicted to stretch from Dodge City, Kansas, to eastern Kentucky, with lighter ice accumulation predicted to reach all the way to the coast in Norfolk, Virginia.
The snowfall is expected to begin over the weekend in the midwest and travel toward the East Coast into the early part of next week.
