From the Dakotas to New England, people are waking up to snow Monday as the year comes to a close.
Nearly 25 million people will be under some sort of winter weather alert Monday morning, according to CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford. Blizzard warnings are expected to last in the Dakotas and Minnesota through Monday morning into the early afternoon.
“This system hitting is the final big storm for the Northeast this year,” Shackelford said.
The center of the storm is in Michigan, but will move slowly toward the Northeast. Ice accumulation is possible mostly in Central New York and Western Massachusetts, Shackelford said.
As the storm moves east, there’s no need to worry about those New Year’s Eve celebrations being canceled, since the bulk of the system is expected to move offshore Tuesday afternoon, Shackelford said.
4 million people are under a flood watch
The northern end of the storm is dumping snow, while the southern end is pouring rain, Shackelford said.
Northern parts of New England — like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont — will see 8 to 12 inches of snow through Wednesday. Parts of Wisconsin and Michigan could also see up to a foot of snow, Shackelford said.
Meanwhile, 4 million people in the Ohio River Valley — Ohio and Indiana — are under a flood watch until early Monday, Shackelford said. Parts of New England where it isn’t snowing, like Connecticut, Rhode Island, southern New York and Massachusetts will see rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches through Wednesday.
Temperatures for much of the Eastern US are also expected to be well above normal Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
