Potential nor’easter aiming for Northeast freight hubs

Just a few days after a snowstorm led to accidents that shut down a section of I-95 in Virginia for more than 24 hours, another storm will soon head toward the Northeast.

I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol. My office is in touch with @VaDOT to see how we can help other Virginians in this situation. Please stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/Sz1b1hZJZ5
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) January 4, 2022

Areas from Washington to Boston could be in the thick of the storm, as well as other areas along and west of the Interstate 95 corridor.

The storm will develop across the Deep South, where cold air will be in place. Snow, sleet and freezing rain could hit parts of the mid-South, like Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, by Thursday morning.

Then, from late Thursday afternoon through Friday morning, snow will spread from the mid-Atlantic to New England, exiting northern New England on Friday afternoon as it enters the Canadian Maritimes.

Snow totals will range from 1 to 4 inches in the Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Hartford, Connecticut, metropolitan areas. Providence and Boston could see up to 6 inches. This would be the first significant snowfall of the season for these cities and their inland communities.

Winds may be strong enough to produce periods of blowing snow and reduced visibility.

Which places see the most snow and just how much snow piles up depends on the exact path of the storm. If it tracks farther offshore than the latest outlook as of Wednesday morning, snow amounts could be higher and confined to the major cities mentioned. If it tracks farther inland, this would produce more rain along the I-95 corridor, with most of the snow staying inland.

***(Map: FreightWaves SONAR Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) map. To learn more about FreightWaves SONAR,*** ***click here***.)

This storm will impact truckers heading to three key freight markets: Harrisburg and Allentown, Pennsylvania, as well as Elizabeth, New Jersey.

There’s a lot of freight available in these markets, and carriers like to send their drivers to where the freight is. The FreightWaves Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) map above shows which markets have the highest levels of outbound loads being offered by shippers for carriers to pick up. The darker the blue, as in the three markets mentioned, the higher the OTVI value.