Latest Details On Thursday's Winter Storm In The Hudson Valley

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — A period of possibly record-breaking warmth will be the precursor to what's shaping up to be a major winter storm across the Northeast.

Highs will be in the 50s to 60s on Wednesday. Then temps will fall precipitously before the storm heads our way.

"Here in the Hudson Valley, the cold air will have settled into place, and if that heavy precipitation reaches into our area, like we think it might… it would fall in the form of heavy snow," said Bill Potter of Hudson Valley Weather.

The National Weather Service predicts up to 6 inches of snow Thursday in a Hazardous Weather Outlook for Orange and Putnam counties.

The NWS published snowfall maps for the region.

But Potter warned everyone that it's still more than a day away.

"Now… you’re going to hear a lot of wild snow amounts being thrown around. We’re still about 36 hours away from the storm, and in this time frame, we will be fine tuning the track of this system," he said. "So while it is certainly possible to see 6″ or more with this system… if the storm is not as intense, and the boundary is slightly further south, the axis of heaviest snow will also be further south (as the Canadian model suggests). So we need to watch the trends of the models, to figure out where the heaviest snows will actually be."

AccuWeather says major cities at greatest risk for a period of accumulating snow include Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston. The storm could affect heavily traveled stretches of I-84 and I-95 as well as Interstate 68, I-70, I-76, I-78, I-80, I-81 and I-83.

"The wet, clinging nature of the snow will weigh down tree limbs and could lead to sporadic power outages," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity.

Map via AccuWeather.com