Bill Karins, Meteorologist

The power outages haven’t been nearly as bad in the Northern Plains as compared to Oklahoma. The hardest hit areas have been Northern Kansas, Northern MO and Southern IA. The temperatures warmed 2-3 degrees higher than expected on Tuesday from Wichita to Kansas City and this prevented even more people from sitting in the dark.

PHOTOS: Icy Mess For Midwest | Oklahoma Ice

The rough total from the two combined ice storms is now approaching one million. Some will have to wait 6-10 days before life returns to normal and the lights go on. The ice hasn’t been as bad in the Chicago area where temperatures sat just above freezing for most of the storm.

The next storm forms over the Tennessee Valley with rain on Wednesday and will move into the Northeast Thursday. A cold enough air mass will be in place as the storm moves in for snow and sleet. It’s a little early to pinpoint how much snow but the potential is there for 4-8” in locations that remain all snow. This will primarily be located north and west of NYC.

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There are still questions regarding the exact track of the low but anyone traveling Thursday afternoon and evening needs to be prepared for bad roads in Southern New England and in the Northern Mid-Atlantic States.

Friday we get a break across the country before the big finale over the weekend. The first Nor’easter or maybe blizzard will move from the Southeast to the Northeast Saturday and Sunday. This has the potential to be a high impact storm. The only good news with it is that it will move quickly and be gone by Monday morning. Almost all of our long-range computers show a big storm moving through the eastern half of the nation but as is typical 5 days away from a storm, there are differences with track and precip type.

The best chance of significant snow will be through any of the mountain ranges from West Virginia up into Northern New England. This could be the jackpot for the ski areas as we head into the holidays. With the potential for such a big storm, the other thing I checked immediately was the coastal flood threat in New England. Thankfully, this weekend we will have high tides that are considered in the low-end range. This means we will not see a major coastal flooding event. Heavy snow and rain will be a big concern but it is too early to give exact numbers. I will have more info in the days ahead.