Christmas in October: Winter Weather Spreads to Northeast, While Tropical Storm Rina Loses Strength

ABC News’ Max Golembo Reports:

Up to 140,000 people are still without power after that freak October snowstorm in Denver. This same storm is heading to the Northeast in two parts.

It’s already snowing in parts of New England and upstate New York, from the Adirondacks to the Green Mountains in Vermont to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Here’s a more complete breakdown:

STORM No. 1: A chilly rain spreads from Philadelphia to New York City and Boston, with temperatures falling into the lower 40s by tonight. Inland, Pennsylvania, upstate New York (elevations higher than 1,500 feet), Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine will see a few inches of snow — the first of the season.

Temperatures will fall into the lower 30s in inland areas higher than 1,500 feet, and the rain there changes to snow this afternoon and will stay as all snow through this evening.

Everything clears up tonight, with temperatures in the upper 30s possible along the East Coast. It will be windy tonight and Friday, so be ready for the windchill factor.

STORM No. 2: The second storm will be a coastal Nor’easter. It will move across the Southern U.S. and redevelop off the coast of the Carolinas early Saturday morning. Then it will move up the East Coast during the day on Saturday, bringing chilly rain showers — and the first snowflakes of the season — to New York City, Hartford and Boston.

The forecast is still tricky for this storm, but it seems there is still a chance for a few October snow showers in major Eastern cities. It might feel like Christmas later tonight and again Saturday afternoon in parts of the Northeast.

TROPICAL STORM RINA: Rina continues to look less and less organized, with winds of 70 mph.

Rina is expected to make landfall near Cancun, Mexico, just before midnight.

Because it has weakened, rain forecasts for Cancun have been reduced to 3 to 6 inches, with isolated amounts up to 10 inches expected. Waves  between 4 and 6 feet are possible, with a storm surge — the bulge of water that comes before the storm — up to 2 to 4 feet along the coast.

After landfall later tonight, Rina will make a sharp turn toward Cuba and then verve south back into the Caribbean Sea, pushed by a powerful cold front from the north.

Here’s the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center as of this morning, with updates to be found HERE from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Hurricane Rina: Forecast map as of Oct. 27, 2011. NOAA/National Hurricane Center