Old Man Winter sets sights on Midwest, Northeast again

PHILADELPHIA -- Just as the East Coast dug out from a canopy of wet, heavy snow that again shut schools and emptied workplaces, another hit was expected to sock the Midwest., then the Northeast again.

The National Weather Service said Monday's storm, which brought 8 inches of snow to New York City, 3 to 9 inches to the Philadelphia area and up to 9 inches to central New Jersey, will be followed by a new storm in the Midwest on Tuesday. The heaviest accumulations are expected in Kansas and Missouri. 

The double whammy continues for the Northeast late Tuesday into early Wednesday, when the storm brings up to a foot of snow in northern Pennsylvania and 5 to 9 inches in Boston.

CBS Philadelphia station KYW reports a winter storm watch will go into effect late Tuesday night and continue through Wednesday afternoon for counties north and west of the city, for accumulating snow and ice. Those suburbs are in line for 4-6 inches of snow before a changeover to ice. In the Lehigh Valley, meteorologists say, 6-8” of snow is possible followed by with one-tenth or two-tenths inches of ice -- enough snow and ice to pull down tree limbs and power lines, and create dangerous travel.

A slight shift in the storm’s track by 25-50 miles can mean the difference between ice and rain, or between another significant snow and a changeover to plain rain,

The New York area could also get the snow/ice combo Wednesday -- 4 to 7 inches of snow followed by rain, freezing rain and sleet - possibly creating a messy morning commute. 

And even though it's days away, the weather service said there's a chance of even more of the cold, white flakes beginning Saturday and continuing into Sunday on the East Coast. It could be a trifecta of foul weather.

In all, 24 states with more than 100 million people were under winter storm warnings or watches Tuesday.

"This winter has been a pretty amazing winter across a whole lot of the country," said Joseph T. Pajor, deputy director of the department of public works and utilities for the city of Wichita, Kansas, which was expected to get about 2 inches of snow overnight and another 6 inches on Tuesday. 

On Monday, government offices, courts and schools were closed in parts of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; scattered power outages were reported throughout the region. Speed limits were reduced on many major highways. 

At least two deaths and one serious injury were blamed on the storm. In western Kentucky, where the snow began falling Sunday, a 24-year-old man died that night when his car skidded into a snowplow. On Monday, a 73-year-old New York City man was fatally struck by a backhoe that was moving snow. 

A 10-year-old girl was in serious condition after she was impaled by a metal rod while sledding north of Baltimore. 

In Ohio, where the storm dumped as much as 10 inches on the state Monday, there were numerous traffic accidents, none serious. "It was mostly bent fenders and hurt feelings," said Kim Carver, director of the Scioto County Emergency Management Agency in Portsmouth.