Maps show where snow is expected in 12 states ahead of new year

A winter storm that brought a white Christmas and blizzard conditions to the Great Plains states is moving across the country, with snow on the way for a dozen states in the Midwest and Northeast.

On Sunday, a blustery storm hit the Plains region and brought dangerous conditions for holiday travelers. Nearly the entire state of Nebraska was under a blizzard warning, as were parts of South Dakota. The storm brought more than a foot of snow to Wyoming and Nebraska. Snow is in the forecast for the Midwest, although with smaller totals likely, compared with the storm over the weekend.

A map published by the Weather Channel shows that by Friday morning eastern Missouri, southeastern Iowa and much of Illinois could see some snow. The winter storm will continue its eastward trek, bringing snow to southern Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee by Friday night.

“If you missed out on a white Christmas in some spots, well, you’re going to get some snow in the Midwest,” Weather Channel meteorologist Kait Parker said in the forecast video.

Patches of snow are forecast for West Virginia and Vermont by Friday night, as well as in upstate New York and Maine.

National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Angela LaFlash told Newsweek that the low-pressure storm system would be mixing with a high-pressure system that was bringing dry air to the Maine area. Snow totals could change, depending on how the combining systems interact.

LaFlash said that snow will arrive north of Bangor, Maine, by Friday. Rain is forecast for areas south of the city. The system will move out of the Maine area by Saturday.

The NWS office in Indianapolis reported that snow was falling already on Thursday morning.

“Light-moderate snow will continue to fall from near Vincennes to near Seymour into the late morning. Accumulations around an inch with two inches locally are possible, mainly on grassy and elevated surfaces,” the office posted on X (formerly Twitter). It added that motorists should drive carefully.

In the Northeast, the Weather Channel forecast said snow totals are highest for Maine and upstate New York, at 5 to 8 inches. But Parker said most everywhere else will see anywhere from a dusting to 3 inches.

However, LaFlash’s snow forecast was much lower. She told Newsweek that snow will vary from 1 to 3.5 inches in the north-central Highlands region, with only a quarter inch to 1 inch forecast south of the Highlands.

Meanwhile, the storm also will bring frigid temperatures and potentially some snow to Southern states by Friday night, Fox Weather reported. Its map shows that some snow is predicted to fall in northern Alabama and Georgia as temperatures plunge up to 20 degrees below normal this weekend.

The temperature plunge comes as one National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast model suggests that most of the Midwest, the Deep South, the Gulf Coast and the southern Plains states could face startlingly cold temperatures, up to 61 degrees below average, in January.

Many meteorologists previously predicted a warmer than average winter, with the El Niño climate pattern influencing winter weather across the Southwest.