A massive winter storm from the West is expected to head into the region early Thursday to deliver a mix of frozen precipitation which officials say will cause power outages and make travel “nearly impossible.”
Chad Merrill, a forecaster for the Hagerstown Town and Country Almanack and Cumberland native, said a snow and sleet mix will begin between midnight and 3 a.m. on Thursday.
An ice storm warning, issued by the National Weather Service, is calling for ice accumulations of two- to four- tenths of an inch and sleet accumulations of up to 1 inch. The advisory expires Thursday night.
“The snow/sleet mix will change to freezing rain later in the morning and likely to rain in the mid-afternoon before the storm exits by 6 to 9 p.m.,” Merrill said.
Merrill said the storm will bring dense fog as well.
The weather service advisory said that power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice and “travel could be nearly impossible.”
Gulf moisture was expected to collide with a low pressure system to bring severe weather into the mid-Atlantic states.