Winter storm: as heavy snow hits the east coast, more than 45 million people are under storm surveillance

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The storm is expected to affect most of the east coast from Wednesday to Thursday, and several feet of snow and heavy ice could cause power outages across the region.

The cities of Boston and New York could see up to a foot of snow, while some parts of the Tri-State area could see up to 16 inches.

“Confidence is high that this winter storm will produce significant impacts, including travel disruptions and power outages in much of the mid-Atlantic and southern New England,” the Weather Prediction Center said.

Trajectory of the storm

The storm system will move into the Rocky Mountains until Tuesday and bring snow to the southern plains before meeting with cooler air further east.

Freezing rains will fall along I-80 and the Virginia Mountains, with an ice accumulation of more than a quarter of an inch possible in Roanoke, Charlottesville, west to Beckley, West Virginia.

A mix of rainfall will spread from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, with heavy snowfall across the Tri-State area and New England, according to Weather Prediction Center maps.

A lighter accumulation of snow from Indiana in New Hampshire is expected on Wednesday, according to WPC.

Rainy wind conditions will also be a cause for concern, and some areas, especially on the coast, will be approaching snowstorm conditions. Sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph are possible, with gusts of up to 45 mph.

Shippers have contingency plans for vaccine distribution

The weather could make travel very difficult or even impossible in some areas, the National Meteorological Service said.

While the storm is not expected to have significant impacts on the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, shippers have made contingency plans to address weather issues.

The winter snowstorm will reach parts of the mid-Atlantic in New England starting Wednesday, when shippers are expected to make 66 deliveries nationwide. Later in the week, other vaccines will be sent to Pfizer distribution boxes that need dry ice.

Will bad weather make it difficult to deliver vaccines to the east coast?

FedEx does not expect any “significant impact” on the service, company spokesman Shannon Davis wrote in an email Monday, adding that they will continue to monitor the forecast.

“We have a team of 15 meteorologists who monitor the conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we have contingency plans in case we see severe weather,” he said.

UPS did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, but it also has an internal team that monitors the weather.

General of Operation Warp Speed, Gustave Perna, told the press on Monday that his group was planning different issues, the worst being an accident of a delivery vehicle or plane. Bad weather falls amid the spectrum of problems, he said.

Some doses will be kept in a “safety stock” in case there is a problem.

CNN’s Steve Almasy, Judson Jones, Melissa North and Taylor Ward contributed to this report.

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