A winter storm will push east over large parts of the Southeast on Monday, bringing more snow and freezing temperatures to the region before reaching the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast on Tuesday, where forecasters said it could end a nearly two-year drought without snow..
The Southeast was bracing for extremely cold temperatures on Monday, with several states under winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories.
The governors of Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency as officials across the region opened warming centers and advised residents to prepare for freezing conditions.
Snow, sleet and freezing rain were expected to blanket parts of eastern Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and the Tennessee Valley late Sunday into Monday morning as the storm moves east. Several inches of snow are expected to fall in Arkansas, the Tennessee Valley and the Southern Appalachians, the National Weather Service said.
The storm system pushing over the South and Southern Appalachians was expected to strike the East Coast on Monday, with initial snowfall expected by night before reaching the New York metropolitan area late Tuesday into Wednesday, according to Brian Hurley, a meteorologist at the Weather Service.
The Weather Service office in Philadelphia said it expected light snowfall accumulations late Monday and Tuesday, ending a 714-day streak without an inch or more of snow there.
“Most of the snow will fall Monday night, and it will be a light fluffy snow,” the office said on Facebook, adding that the snow could turn into “a wintry mix or rain” before ending late Tuesday.
A 701-day streak without an inch or more of snow in New York City could end too. The Weather Service office in New York said in its forecast that snow accumulation of one to three inches was possible on Tuesday.
“For a lot of these big cities, we don’t see anything really more than two to four inches with this particular system,” Mr. Hurley said, alluding to expected snowfall totals in the Northeast. He added that forecasters would keep an eye on the system late in the week on Friday.
“By then, if it stays closer to the coast, that could actually give us a little bit more snow here in the Northeast,” he said.
New York City was forecast on Monday to hit highs in the lower 30s during the day and lows in the upper 20s, the Weather Service said, adding that there were a 60 percent chance of snow.
A different system had also brought sub-zero wind chills to the Plains and parts of the Midwest, forecasters said, and “near-record, dangerously low” temperatures could persist in parts of Midwest, the Weather Service said.
Republicans in Iowa will likely have to contend with record-low temperatures ahead of the Iowa Caucus on Monday evening.
Heavy lake-effect snow was expected to continue to blanket parts of northern Michigan and northern and western New York State, which includes the city of Buffalo, where a winter storm warning was in effect until early Monday morning.
Heavy winds and snow there over the weekend caused the N.F.L. to postpone a playoff game hosted by the Buffalo Bills until Monday afternoon. Residents said the storm paled in comparison to the deadly blizzard that battered the Buffalo area in late 2022, and added that advance warnings had given them enough time to prepare.
“You were given more of a heads-up to what was going on,” said Lisa Fuentes, who works in the city of Tonawanda, just north of Buffalo. That was not the case before the blizzard in 2022, when she ran to the store for supplies at the last minute. “I could barely get home from the store before it was coming down hard.”
Paul Lane contributed reporting.
