The snow already started falling in the Midwest on Sunday, with about 1 to 3 inches or more expected to drop in Illinois, Indiana and northern Ohio.
Dreaming of a white — and windy — Christmas?
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About 55 million Americans were under winter weather alerts Sunday from Iowa to Maine, and could see anywhere from a dusting to several inches of snow as a winter storm and gusty winds continued to sweep across the northern United States.
The snow was already falling in the Midwest, with a half-foot or more recorded in parts of western Nebraska and more than 3 inches to parts of the Midwest. In northern Indiana, where at least 5 inches was possible, police said slick and icy road conditions could still make driving difficult for those trying to make it to their destinations in time for the holiday.
More than 3 inches of snow fell by midday in Chicago, and the hometown Bears beat the Cleveland Browns at a Soldier Field filled with shivering fans and freshly fallen powder. The snow was expected to taper off by Sunday night, followed by a blast of cold temperatures.
As the system tracks eastward, an area of low pressure is expected to intensify along the Northeast coast early Monday, threatening widespread snow in the Northeast, forecasters said Sunday night. The heaviest-hit areas are likely to be in parts of New England, with little snow expected along the Interstate 95 corridor south of Boston.
That means "a white Christmas for a lot of locations which originally looked a little questionable whether or not we'd have at least an inch of snow on the ground," said Danielle Bank, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. "We're going to see a lot of 3- to 5-inch amounts. We know that for sure."
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But major metropolitan areas will just miss getting walloped by the storm. The heaviest-hit areas are likely to be in parts of New England, with little snow expected along the Interstate 95 corridor south of Boston.
Frank Giannasca, a senior meteorologist for The Weather Channel, said 20- to 25-mph winds were possible across the Mid-Atlantic and up through Boston on Christmas Day, while wind gusts could reach 40 to 50 mph along the I-95 corridor. The windchill would make it feel like 20-degree weather, he added.
It's only the beginning of the cold. Forecasters say repeated surges of bitter, arctic air are expected through the New Year and will keep temperatures below average across the northern United States.
