Nice discussion(as usual) from Mount Holly-
Thursday: A rather nice (if you like wintry weather) sfc configuration will be in place over our area on Thursday with a robust cold high positioned north of the area, with the resulting NE flow creating a nice CAD setup. However, the upper-lvls will be a bit less favorable, with the the H5 trough-ridge configuration being shifted a bit west of the "textbook" positioning. This results in a slightly more westward track of the surface/850 lows, with the consensus track of the sfc. low being just offshore of the NJ coast on Thursday night, while the 850 wave would pass overhead. All that being said, the trend over the last couple days has definitely been colder with this system with the east coast ridge trending flatter and the northern High trending stronger with each guidance cycle. Consequently this setup would likely result in a general thump of snow Thursday morning into early Thursday afternoon, before warmer air arrives aloft and we see ptypes transition from S-N to sleet/freezing ran/rain Thursday afternoon into Thursday night. The main questions now are how long-lasting and powerful that initial "thump" of snow is, and also how quickly the column warms . Given a solid 600-700mb FGEN signature in the warm advection regime, along with increasing UL divergence in the right entrance region of the northern jet, would not be surprised if the initial snow-thump packs a punch, and many locations could pick up several inches of snow fairly rapidly on Thursday. Given the robust CAD setup would also not be surprised if many locations NW of I-95 never get above freezing and thus see only frozen precipitation during the entirety of the event. This scenario would also largely alleviate any hydro concerns as the warm temperatures/rain would not fall on the areas with the healthiest snowpack. The one real dissident solution to the general evolution described above is the NAM, which has the system more amplified and further west, and as a result has a howling (70+kt) SWrly 700mb jet moving through the area early Thursday. This results in rapid warm advection aloft, with a very quick transition to sleet and thus limited snow accumulations, with also a fairly pronounced dry slot. The NAM can certainly act as the "canary in the coal mine" for warm nose potential in these setups so it can`t be discounted off hand. However, at the same time feel it is sufficiently at odds with the consensus synoptic evolution that it was largely ignored in this package.