Snow, ice clog roads and lead to accidents across Northeast

The interior Northeast was transformed into a winter wonderland Thursday into Friday as a cross-country storm delivered a helping of snow across the region, but the late-week storm did more than brighten the spirits of folks dreaming of a white Christmas.

Freezing rain, sleet and snow first began to spread across the interior mid-Atlantic Wednesday night into Thursday morning with the worst of the wintry mix focusing on the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and central Pennsylvania. The wintry weather transitioned to mainly snow by Thursday afternoon as the storm advanced northeast toward New England.

"I'm from North Carolina, we don't get this at home," Bills Chavis, a construction worker who was near Syracuse, New York, on Thursday, told AccuWeather. "When this [snow] started falling, it just wouldn't stop."

The snow in the Northeast was an extension of the same system that spawned deadly thunderstorms and tornadoes in the South and blizzard conditions in the northern Plains.

A truck was spinning its tires as it attempted to drive up a hill in New York on Thursday amid icy, snowy conditions. (AccuWeather)

Trouble on the roads began before the Thursday morning commute as wintry precipitation created headaches for motorists on backroads and major highways across the interior Northeast.

There was a plethora of accidents reported across Pennsylvania amid icy conditions, including one crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that shut down the road for hours on Thursday morning.

Pileups on Interstate 80 also caused lengthy delays for people who were trying to travel across the Keystone State with Elijah Perez being one of many truck drivers who became stranded near Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Perez told AccuWeather that although this is his second winter driving a truck, Thursday was the first time he encountered bad winter weather.

Syracuse was another trouble spot. The city received a mix of sleet and ice accumulation before half of a foot of snow accumulated. AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline was on the scene of several crashes near Syracuse and witnessed trucks that were having difficulty diving up a small hill due o icy conditions.

The heaviest snow fell from northeastern Pennsylvania through northern New England with accumulations around a foot measured in the higher elevations of New York, Vermont and western Massachusetts.

Some people who elected to stay home amid the snow, freezing rain and sleet still had to cope with the icy aftermath of the storm with over 50,000 power outages reported from Virginia to New York on Friday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

As millions of people across the interior Northeast faced wintry weather, the storm delivered primarily rain along the Interstate 95 corridor. However, some of the suburbs to the north and west of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., briefly saw some ice and snow on Thursday before the wintry mix was washed away by rain.

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The late-week snowstorm has been a boon for ski resorts across the Northeast, especially in northern New England where the heaviest snow fell.

Whiteface Mountain Ski Resort, located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, posted an update on Friday morning that had skiers champing at the bit to hit the slopes. "We're not telling you to call in sick today, but today is going to be a pretty sick day if you ask us," the resort posted on its website. "Snow has been coming down heavily since early this morning covering the mountain in fresh powder."

The snowstorm also increased the chances of the interior Northeast having a white Christmas this year. To have a white Christmas, there must be at least 1 inch of snow on the ground or at least 1 inch of new snow accumulation on Christmas Day.

The odds of a white Christmas could increase next week as AccuWeather meteorologists monitor the potential for a major, far-reaching winter storm in the eastern U.S. There is the potential for this system to evolve into a significant nor'easter, packing heavy snow and intense wind for part of New England at the same time the people being to travel ahead of Christmas weekend.

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