Although The Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore hasn’t yet revealed his planned deployment location for this weekend, he’s sounding a strong warning about an enormous winter storm poised to strike the Mid-Atlantic, the Northeast, and a vast region encompassing more than half of the United States population.
While the precise intensity and targeted areas will undoubtedly shift as the week progresses, Cantore issued an urgent alert via his social media Tuesday morning. He is forecasting that this major storm will affect areas from the Southern Plains through the Mid-Atlantic, beginning “Friday afternoon” and lasting “into Tuesday.” (RELATED: Southern Cities On Alert As Possibility Of Powerful Winter Storm Could Set Up Blast Of Ice, Snow)
Not only will this storm bring a massive amount of snowfall, but an Arctic air mass will follow closely behind the front, causing the accumulated snow to freeze solid and remain in place for several days.
According to Cantore, “unending ARCTIC COLD and SIGNIFICANT WINTER PRECIPITATION across most of this area. It’s going to stay VERY COLD after the event too, which makes melting and recovery much more difficult when significant ICE and SNOW fall.”
We are in for one hell of an ending to January in the eastern half of the country with unending ARCTIC COLD and SIGNIFICANT WINTER PRECIPITATION across most of this area. It’s going to stay VERY COLD after the event too, which makes melting and recovery much more difficult when… pic.twitter.com/9XyuvX1E1j
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) January 20, 2026
The approaching storm is expected to deliver a dangerous mix of wintry precipitation, including snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
Cantore reiterated his worry about the potentially significant accumulation totals that could result from this event, saying “some of the data I have looked at this morning is downright scary with respect to ICE ACCRETION.”
In this context, accretion is synonymous with accumulation. (RELATED: Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula Sees Building Entrances Blocked, Cars Buried After Biggest Snowstorm In 60 Years)
This storm is poised to deliver the heaviest snowfall that some areas of the Mid-Atlantic haven’t seen in 10 years.
“Hopefully a lot of this falls as SLEET, but some of the FREEZING RAIN COULD BE OVER AN INCH which is crippling. Double digit SNOW is likely as well especially in the mid-Atlantic region. Significant snowfall is expected in DC. ICE is possible to the southeast coast,” wrote Cantore.