Flip Spiceland: Heavy snow headed for Northeast

Flip Spiceland

CNN weather anchor Flip Spiceland is tracking a winter snowstorm in the United States.

Q: What part of the nation is expected to be hit hardest by this storm?

SPICELAND: The Northeast. And the big cities in the Northeast are expected to see very heavy snow. Places like Philadelphia, New York, Boston, perhaps even Washington, D.C. The question at this point that we still have not dialed in perfectly is the track of the storm. If it goes 100 miles out to sea, we would have a different scenario. In any case, there will be very strong, blustery winds -- and somebody is going to see very heavy snowfall. There are at this point at least three different scenarios, and we've taken the middle one. One has it right on the coast, one has it farther away, and we're going with the track that has it right in the middle. In that scenario, Philadelphia could see very heavy snowfall, as much as 15 inches.

Q: When is this likely to begin?

SPICELAND: Perhaps later today, more likely tomorrow morning.

Q: And when will it end?

SPICELAND: Not before Sunday afternoon or evening.

Q: Is it still possible that those cities won't get clobbered?

SPICELAND: If the first scenario along the coast, or the one farther offshore, is accurate, Philadelphia won't get hit that hard. Yesterday I was saying Boston was going to be the one getting 15 inches of snow. But taking this track, Boston would start out as rain.

Q: When will you have a handle on that?

SPICELAND: Not until it's too late. That's why we're trying to warn everybody of the entire potential.

Q: Can you explain what is causing this weather change?

SPICELAND: An intense, rapidly strengthening low-pressure center right along the Eastern Seaboard moving northward, hugging the coast.

Q: When was the last time the urban Northeast had a storm this large?

SPICELAND: 1995.

Q: Will other sections of the country be hit?

SPICELAND: The upper Midwest is getting this storm right now, but it has not intensified to this horrible state because it doesn't have an ocean. To give you some idea of the intensity of the storm, the National Hurricane Center is sending hurricane reconnaissance aircraft into this storm tomorrow. They'll get very accurate pressure readings of the center of the storm. By getting those readings, they can get a very accurate reading of how strong the storm is.

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