Dangerous ice, slippery snow to impact travel in Northeast on Christmas Eve

Alex Sosnowski
·2-min read

A storm is bringing just enough wintry precipitation to cause travel trouble ahead of Christmas Day across the Northeast, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., AccuWeather meteorologists say.

A stripe of heavy snow will move along the northern tier of the region, but a smaller amount of snow and an icy mix will fall farther south. Travel hazards and delays are likely on the roads while airline delays mount due to deicing operations in the travel hubs along the Interstate 95 corridor of the Northeast.

The snow and ice follows the coldest morning in two years on Monday for much of the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic and since early February 2023 in eastern New England. Even though temperatures did not drop all that much Monday night, it was cold enough for frozen and freezing precipitation to cause problems. A general coating of snow and sleet fell from central Pennslyvania to the northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia southward to Baltimore on Monday night. One to 2 inches of snow fell across northwestern New Jersey.

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The heaviest snow-from 3 to 6 inches-is forecast for northern New York to northern New England, with pockets of 6-12 inches in the Adirondack, Green and White Mountains.

While the snow will provide skiers in the region with a fresh natural covering of powder just in time for Christmas, motorists heading through the central and northern Appalachians and the eastern Great Lakes should be prepared for slippery travel. This includes vast stretches of interstates 70, 76, 80, 81, 86, 87, 88, 89 and 90.

As the moisture from the storm reaches toward the coast, some of it will diminish. However, even a small amount of snow and/or ice can make for slippery and dangerous conditions on the roads and sidewalks where the temperature dips to near the freezing mark.

In Boston, periods of snow will continue through the midday hours on Tuesday. Accumulations of a coating to an inch are in store.

In the wake of the storm, the weather will be relatively quiet and good for travel for the evening hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from the eastern Great Lakes to the Northeast. No significant lake-effect snow is forecast to follow the storm. However, any areas that remain wet at the end of the day on Tuesday can become icy Tuesday night unless treated.

A potent storm will bring drenching rain and locally severe thunderstorms to parts of the south-central United States on Christmas Day. The latest indications are that while some rain and wintry precipitation will streak northward into part of the Upper Midwest, it may be spotty and light.

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