Winter Storm Continues To Develop

By Justin Drabick

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Our next winter storm is in its developing stages.

As of Tuesday evening, the storm was located over Kentucky and headed towards the mid-Atlantic. The bullseye of moisture still looks to remain well to our southwest across West Virginia, Virginia, & western Maryland, making this the biggest storm of the winter for the mid-Atlantic with over a foot of snow possible in those areas.

For the Delaware Valley, expect rain to arrive before daybreak on Wednesday, possibly starting as snow west of Philly. The rain will eventually change over to snow from west to east during the day. Temperatures will be above freezing through the day, so even though temperatures aloft will support snow, temperatures near the surface will be borderline for snow. Where it does snow, any accumulations should remain on grassy areas & non paved surfaces during the day.

Given that it is March, the sun's rays can still penetrate the clouds and warm paved surfaces. After sunset, the changeover to all snow should have occurred and that will be the best chance for snow accumulations of around 2-4 inches, with higher amounts west of Philly. These amounts could change either way depending on the temperatures and snowfall rates. Winter storm warnings, watches and winter weather advisories have been issued for parts of the region.

As the storm intensifies on Wednesday, strong east to northeast winds will develop, gusting to near 60 mph along the coast. This onshore wind flow will start to pile up water along the coast Wednesday into Thursday. A coastal flood warning is in effect for Delaware and New Jersey for possible moderate coastal flooding late Wednesday night and Thursday morning. High wind warnings are also in effect for coastal areas. The combination of strong wind, heavy rain and wet snow could lead to some power outages.