A record-breaking winter blast has penetrated all the way to the Gulf Coast.
Houston International Airport saw its earliest snow ever recorded. Louisville, Kentucky, has seen its earlier ice storm since 1989. And in Jackson, Mississippi, the high temperature was 36 degrees on Wednesday, the coldest high temperature ever recorded this early in the season.
An ice storm warning is in place for Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio on Thursday, where some areas already had a glaze of ice accumulating on power lines and trees; thousands of people are without power Thursday morning.
There are 23 states from Arkansas to Maine under a winter storm warning, winter weather advisory or ice storm warning on Thursday morning.
The coastal storm is strengthening over the Southeast coast and will continue to spread heavy rain into the Carolinas, with an icy mix from the mid-Atlantic back to the Ohio Valley.
By Thursday afternoon, as the storm moves along the coast, a heavy burst of snow is expected along the I-95 corridor from New Jersey into New York City and Boston.
Snow will change to freezing rain, sleet and rain by 5 p.m. from New York City and parts south, while inland areas in Pennsylvania and upstate New York will continue to see snow.
Everyone along I-95, from Washington, D.C., to Boston will change to just rain by Thursday evening, but inland areas from Virginia to Pennsylvania and into New England, will continue seeing snow, sleet and freezing rain.
The snowfall totals will be heaviest in central Pennsylvania and western New York into northern New England, where some areas could see up to 8 inches of snow.
A widespread swath of 3 to 6 inches of snow is expected just west of the I-95 corridor, though New York City and Boston will not see much — maybe up to 1 inch or so. The last time New York City saw more than 1 inch of snow in November was in 2012.
