Winter storm threatens heavy snow, sleet from Midwest to East Coast

A winter snowstorm was expected to blanket a wide swath of the U.S. Midwest on Saturday before heading to the East Coast, bringing up to a foot (30 cm) of fresh accumulation to parts of New England, days after a blizzard slammed the region, forecasters said.

Six to 12 inches of snow were predicted from Iowa to Massachusetts, with New York and New Jersey expected to bear the brunt of the storm when it blows in to the region on Monday, the National Weather Service said.

“Close to 100 million people live within the swath forecast to be hit with accumulating snow or enough wintry mix to make for slippery roads from Saturday evening into Monday,” said AccuWeather forecaster Alex Sosnowski.

The winter weather was also threatening a new round of travel delays after thousands of flights were canceled earlier this week when a blizzard pummeled parts of the East Coast but failed to deliver the record-setting wallop predicted in some areas. [ID:nL1N0V71H7]

The powerful storm dumped up to 3 feet (0.9 m) of snow and led to coastal flooding around parts of New England, while largely bypassing New Jersey and New York City, where forecasters had predicted one of the biggest storms on record.

“From near New York City to southern New England, there are still huge piles of snow left,” Sosnowski said in his forecast. “Crews may want to make room for the new snowfall coming.”

Saturday’s storm will begin as rain and sleet around Kansas and Missouri, while states to the north and east can expect moderate to heavy snowfall through Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Midwest residents said they were ready for the new band of winter weather.

“I’m not concerned, I can’t control the weather,” said Andy Schmitz, a managing partner with a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Sioux City, Iowa. “We’ll just be prepared for a busy day.”

The new storm will hit the Northeast on Feb. 2, Groundhog Day. That is when, according to tradition, a rodent named Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his burrow in Pennsylvania to predict the imminent end of winter or six more weeks of cold and snow.

After the storm blows out, frigid weather in the single digits Fahrenheit was expected from Philadelphia to Boston early next week, the National Weather Service said.