A swiftly moving winter storm is set to barrel across the US Northeast on Sunday, disrupting travel plans and bringing bone-chilling windchills that will linger well into the work week. The storm's imminent arrival threatens to blanket Washington, the scheduled location for Monday's historic presidential inauguration, with up to 4 inches of snow. As a result of the anticipated frigid temperatures, President-elect Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony will now be held indoors.
Major cities such as New York City and Philadelphia are expected to receive between 4 and 6 inches of snow, according to Marc Chenard, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. Further north in Boston, snowfall totals could exceed 6 inches, with some inland areas potentially seeing accumulations of up to 8 inches.
Chenard emphasized the rapid development of the storm, stating, "It is a pretty quick-moving storm, but it will definitely drop a swath of accumulating snowfall." With the storm's passage, gusty winds will intensify on Monday as temperatures plummet, causing the conditions in Washington to feel as cold as 10F (-12.2C).
The impending storm has already begun to disrupt air travel, resulting in the cancellation of more than 680 flights as of 9:30 a.m. Sunday in New York, particularly at Newark, New Jersey, and Washington's major airports.
In a separate weather event on the opposite coast, Southern California is bracing for the return of Santa Ana winds, expected to increase in intensity across the regions devastated by recent wildfires. Wind gusts could reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour (96.6 kilometers per hour) in some areas, leading to the issuance of additional red-flag fire warnings throughout the region.