Getting around could be a challenge for millions of people in the Northeastern U.S. on Tuesday as the region's first winter storm of the season intensifies.
A low-pressure system moving from Pennsylvania to Maine is expected to drop 6 inches of snow or more in multiple states and tie up the Tuesday evening commute, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters also say parts of Appalachia — specifically areas along the border between Virginia and West Virginia — will see widespread icing that could create dangerous conditions on roadways and sidewalks.
"Please use caution if you must travel, make sure your emergency supplies at home and in the car are stocked for the winter, and check in on your neighbors — especially older folks — who may need a hand," Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement. Parts of Down East Maine could see up to a foot of snow.
In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for five counties in the northern tip of the state expected to be hardest-hit by the storm system.
The frigid forecast for the Northeast comes after heavy snow fell across multiple states in the Midwest over the busy travel weekend. Between 6 and 11 inches of snow came down in northwestern Indiana and northern Illinois, where Chicago set a new record for the most snowfall in one November day. In Milwaukee, where local officials declared a snow emergency, snowfall totals ranged from 6 inches to a foot.
Federal forecasters now say parts of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine could see at least a half inch of snow by Wednesday morning. The heaviest snowfall could occur in a swath of land from the Poconos in Pennsylvania to coastal Maine, where 5 to 10 inches are expected. More than an inch of snow could fall per hour, the NWS warned.
The system will move out of the Northeast and into Canada by Wednesday morning.
Across the country, a separate winter storm system was expected to bring snow to parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming from Tuesday evening through Thursday morning. The NWS office in Boulder warned locals to prepare for a "slow, slick, and hazardous Wednesday morning commute."
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