A New Year’s blizzard will unfold in northern New England and southern Atlantic Canada later today into early Sunday. Widespread lake-effect snow showers, fierce winds and severe cold are spreading all the way to the Northeast coast and down the spine of the of the Appalachians.

The worst of the storm will rage from northern New York and southern Quebec to Maine and New Brunswick.

The hardest hit communities will endure several hours of heavy, windblown snow. Severe drifting of snow will occur, keeping roads clogged even well after the heavy snow tapers off.

People who live in northern parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, Maine and southern parts of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia will be digging out from a foot to a foot and a half of snow. A few locations in this zone will have 2 feet of snow!

Travel will be nearly impossible in this area this weekend with snow-packed roadways and white-out conditions.

Parts of the Boston area have already received 6 inches of snow. Up to an additional 6 inches will accumulate and disrupt travel through Sunday.

The rest of the Midwest and Northeast will escape the blizzard, but will have to endure frigid temperatures, wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph, bands of heavy lake-effect snow and sudden snow showers that quickly make roads slippery.

Hundreds of flight delays and cancellations are likely in the Midwest and the Northeast.

The winds will be strong enough this weekend to down tree limbs and cut power to some areas in New England, the mid-Atlantic and Nova Scotia.

Although not as strong as this weekend, gusty winds will continue to contribute to cold AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures through the first half of the week.

The UP is in the cross hairs for a nice cold front set to blow into the air tonight into tomorrow. The cold arctic air will move across the “warm” waters of Lake Superior causing a significant accumulation of lake effect snow.

...SIGNIFICANT LAKE EFFECT SNOWS POSSIBLE NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR
WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING...
LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY OVER MINNESOTA WILL MOVE ACROSS UPPER
MICHIGAN TONIGHT...THEN MERGE WITH DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE OVER
THE OHIO VALLEY ON WEDNESDAY. BEHIND THE LOW...WINDS WILL TURN
NORTH AND NORTHWEST...ALLOWING COLDER AIR TO MOVE ACROSS THE
RELATIVELY WARM WATERS OF LAKE SUPERIOR. THIS SETUP WILL LIKELY
LEAD TO THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT LAKE EFFECT SNOWS OF THE SEASON FOR
AREAS NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR. CURRENT DATA SUGGESTS THAT AREAS FAVORED
BY A NORTHERLY WIND DIRECTION...SUCH AS INLAND NORTH CENTRAL UPPER
MICHIGAN AS WELL AS AREAS NEAR IRONWOOD...WILL SEE ACCUMULATING
SNOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING. AS THE WINDS TURN
NORTHWESTERLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ALL OF WESTERN
UPPER MICHIGAN FROM IRONWOOD TO THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA COULD SEE
MODERATE LAKE EFFECT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.
WIDESPREAD LAKE EFFECT SNOW IS ALSO ANTICIPATED TO FALL ACROSS
LAKE EFFECT SNOW BELTS EAST OF MARQUETTE FAVORED BY A NORTHWEST WIND.
HOWEVER...THE LATEST INFORMATION SUGGESTS THIS SNOW WILL NOT BE AS
HEAVY AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT AS WINDS QUICKLY SHIFT TO THE WEST ON
THURSDAY NIGHT...SHIFTING THE HEAVIER SNOW OVER LAKE SUPERIOR.
LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES ON
THIS SITUATION.