Winter targets Northeast with snow, sleet, rain in a meteorological pounding

Winter is preparing to wreak vengeance on the Northeast with an icy slurry of snow, sleet, and rain expected Saturday in the season’s first serious meteorological pounding.

The storm could run through the weekend, which means winter will smack some areas again by Monday.

“The storm system that brought heavy snow to parts of the southern Plains will continue to develop as it moves up” the Eastern Seaboard early Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. “The system has the potential to bring a wintry mix of precipitation to the Mid-Atlantic & New England, though it is not expected to be a major snow producer.”

The storm is expected to drop 1 to 4 inches of snow and ice in Philadelphia on Saturday morning before the precipitation turns to rain.

Three to 4 inches of snow are expected in New York City and 4 to 6 inches in Boston, with more in central Massachusetts.

New York could get hit again Monday with several more inches.

According to the weather service, a deep trough is swinging through the southern Plains and drawing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

“This will make the advancing system quite the precipitation maker as it gradually lifts up the Eastern Seaboard,” the service noted. As much as 1 to 2 inches of rain are expected through Sunday morning as the storm moves up the coast.

Cold air in the back of the weather system “should spread measurable snows from the central Appalachians up across sections of the Mid-Atlantic and into coastal New England. Additionally, along the rain/snow line will be a mixture of precipitation types which may include freezing rain and sleet,” forecasters said.

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