Potential ice threat, first snow of season looms for mid-Atlantic, Carolinas amid active La Niña winter
Cold arctic air is expected to become wedged and trapped across the southern Appalachians beginning Wednesday night. Meanwhile, a storm that will deliver heavy rain to the Gulf Coast will move eastward. As this precipitation meets up with the cooler air that has settled in, snow and even some freezing rain will become likely Friday into Saturday over parts of the mid-Atlantic and Carolinas.
The coldest arctic air of the season is expected to become trapped east of the Appalachians over the mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas later this week, creating the potential for an ice threat for drivers as a storm system moves out of the Southeast and along the East Coast.
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Millions of drivers along the Interstate 95 corridor in Virginia and North Carolina will have to contend with a glaze of ice that is currently expected to fall by midday Friday, potentially creating a drastically different evening commute home, as compared to conditions in the morning.
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Forecast ice accumulation.
(FOX Weather)
Western Virginia and the mountains of western North Carolina, which are still recovering from the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene in 2024, could also likely see ice accumulations Friday.
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A larger area from Virginia to Massachusetts could see a coating to an inch of snow Friday into Saturday. This includes the Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston metro areas.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the best chance for snow currently includes cities like Charlotte, North Carolina and Roanoke, Virginia, which could see their first snow of the season.
Expected snowfall.
(FOX Weather)
A lobe of artic air has been making its way east across the Midwest this week and will reach the Northeast by Thursday, ushering in the coldest temperatures of early meteorological winter thus far for some locales.
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An area of high pressure will develop in the Northeast on Thursday. The clockwise spin of this airmass will funnel the cold air south, just east of the Appalachians.
Temperatures for places like Richmond, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina could drop to the low 30s or upper 20s on Thursday night.
This graphic shows the regions where snow, ice and rain are expected.
(FOX Weather)
Meanwhile, a storm system that’s delivering heavy rain across the southeastern U.S. is expected to ride up the East Coast and meet the frigid air Friday, setting the stage for the potential snow and ice storm.
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That cold air will become trapped at the surface, locked in between the mountains and warm air from the storm system that will rise above it, in a phenomenon known as cold-air damming.
This graphic is a representation of the cold-air damming phenomenon.
(FOX Weather)
The forecast for the region is still evolving, with uncertainty remaining around exactly how much snow and ice will accumulate.
HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER
However, those who will be traveling along Interstates 95, 91, 40, 85 and 77 on Friday and into the weekend should monitor the latest weather forecasts.
Part of Interstate 71 was closed in Cincinnati was closed due to a crash Tuesday morning, Dec. 2, 2025, amid snowy weather.
(OHGO / FOX Weather)
This latest forecast comes after a salvo of winter storms that have battered most of the country in the first week of December.
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This lines up with the long-range outlook from NOAA last month that forecast an active start to meteorological winter, due in part to the La Niña climate pattern.
