Washington May Receive 2 Inches of Snow From Appalachian Storm

Washington may receive about 2 inches of snow from a storm system promising to bring heavier amounts throughout the Appalachian Mountains and from Mississippi to West Virgina.

Rain falling in the nation’s capital is expected to change to snow by this afternoon, said Rob Carolan, a meteorologist and founder of Hometown Forecast Services in Nashua, New Hampshire.

“It doesn’t look like a lot for Washington,” Carolan said by telephone. “Most of the problems will be 100 miles on either side of the central spine of the Appalachians.”

Winter storm warnings and weather advisories stretch from Mississippi, where 3 inches of snow may fall on the state’s capital Jackson, to southern New Jersey, according to the weather service. The heaviest snow, as much as 8 inches, is expected to fall in the Appalachians.

Carolan said the storm will probably miss New York City, just brush the eastern end of Long Island and possibly bring some snow to Cape Cod and the islands in Massachusetts.

Drivers in Washington may encounter hazardous conditions on their way home from work today, according to an alert from the city. Carolan said frigid air moving in from the north will reach the eastern U.S. later today, turning the rain into snow and possibly icing up roads.

Airports along the East Coast may experience delays primarily from poor visibility, Carolan said. Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where heavy rain was falling, reported delays of about 30 minutes as of 8:30 a.m. East Coast time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.