36°
The system, which arrived Thursday afternoon, Dec. 22, will wind down by Friday evening, Dec. 23.
A total of between 2 to 3 inches or more of rainfall is possible.
For a look at the precipitation types from the system, with rain in green and a mix of rain and snow in pink, click on the first image above from AccuWeather.com.
"Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects," the National Weather Service said in a Hazardous Weather Outlook statement. "Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result."
Wind gusts could be as high as 70 miles per hour in some areas, with widespread 40 to 50 mph gusts. (Click on the second image above.)
Coupled with blizzard-like conditions in the Midwest, thousands of flights have already been canceled.
As the storm system moves off the coast, temperatures "will plummet from Friday afternoon to Friday night," according to AccuWeather.com, which noted that, "in some cases, a temperature drop of 30-50 degrees can occur in a matter of several hours." (Click on the third image above.)
"This is about as extreme of a temperature drop there can be in the Northeast," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Joe Lundberg.
The wind-chill factor on Christmas Eve on Saturday morning, Dec. 24 will be around zero degrees.
It will be mostly sunny during the day, but. the high temperature will only be in the upper teens to low 20s and wind gusts of around 20 mph will make it feel colder.
Christmas Eve night will be clear and bitterly cold with the overnight low in the teens.
The current outlook for Christmas Day on Sunday, Dec. 25 calls for dry and brisk conditions, with mostly sunny skies and a high temperature in the mid to upper 20s.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Amherst and receive free news updates.
