Weather Update: Timing, Totals For Hudson Valley Snowstorm

Editor's Note: Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service upgraded its advisories to "warning" level for the Hudson Valley. SEE: Winter Storm Warnings Issued For Hudson Valley

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — More than 24 hours out from the region's first snowstorm of the season, the National Weather Service issued its first detailed reports about the expected timing and snow accumulation.

The weather service predicted 8-18 inches of snow, with higher totals in the lower Hudson Valley. Blizzard conditions are possible, with snow falling at 1-2 inches per hour and winds gusting to 50 mph. A gale watch was issued for the western Long Island Sound.

"Northern New Jersey and the lower Hudson Valley of New York state through much of Connecticut and northwestern Rhode Island is the most likely zone to experience blizzard and whiteout conditions," said Alex Sosnowski, an AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

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Snow is expected to start Wednesday afternoon and become heavy at times Wednesday night into early Thursday before tapering off Thursday morning. Travel will be hazardous and could be impossible, the weather service said.

One of the issues about which forecasters remain uncertain is the northern edge of the storm. The amount of snow will fall off sharply at the storm's edge, said Bill Potter and Alex Marra of Hudson Valley Weather.

"Morning data trends have continued to move towards a track further north, this has resulted in a significant shift northward in terms of the axis of heaviest snowfall, as of this latest data it has placed our region into the bullseye of the heaviest snowfall," they said in a Tuesday morning update.

Temperatures will drop in the storm's wake — get ready for several days of Arctic air.

Hudson Valley Weather posted a discussion about the storm Thursday morning: