The Day The Temperature Rose 103 Degrees

A potent storm system will move through the East into early Christmas Day, where it will bring strong winds, flooding rainfall and snow. This system brought blizzard conditions to parts of the Plains on Wednesday.

This low pressure system has been named Winter Storm Harold by The Weather Channel.

(MORE: Winter Storm Strikes Plains, Upper Midwest)

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Here's a look at the timing and a break down of each threat this storm poses in the East.

Timing

The peak impacts from this storm will spread through the East into early Christmas Day.

Much of the remaining rain and wind will push out of New England during the afternoon on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, lake-effect snow will develop in the eastern Great Lakes.

Potential Threats

Strong Winds

Strong, damaging winds are expected as this front sweeps across the eastern states through Thursday night and early Friday. Coastal areas from the mid-Atlantic northward to near New York City and southern and eastern New England could see scattered areas of power outages and tree damage.

High wind alerts have been issued by the National Weather Service from the coastal mid-Atlantic to New York City, Long Island and southern and eastern New England.

The greatest threat of damaging winds exists in areas under high wind warnings. Wind gusts up to 60 mph (locally higher) are possible in these areas Thursday night into early Friday.

Flooding Rain

Widespread rain is expected in the East into early Christmas Day, even as far north as Maine. The rainfall could be heavy at times in some locations, and that's likely to stir up flooding concerns.

Rainfall totals in much of the East are expected to be 1 to 3 inches (locally higher) through Friday morning.

Flood watches have been issued by the National Weather Service from parts of the mid-Atlantic to southern and eastern New York and into New England.

Snow cover from last week's winter storm in the Northeast is expected to melt amid the milder temperatures and rainfall. This will add to the potential for flooding across interior parts of the Northeast region.

Minor, moderate and even major river flooding is possible in some areas.

Snowfall

Winter weather alerts have been issued by the National Weather Service from parts of the Appalachians to western New York.

These areas will see rain changing to snow through Christmas Eve night.

Light to moderate snowfall accumulations are forecast from the Appalachians into western Pennsylvania and western New York through early Friday.

Heavier snow totals are expected in areas favored to see lake-effect snowfall developing on Friday and Friday night in the eastern Great Lakes.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.