(Bloomberg) -- A fast-moving storm will bring light snow up theEast Coast starting late Thursday in Washington and overnight inNew York.

A winter weather advisory stretches from North Carolina to NewJersey in advance of the storm that could bring 2 to 3 inches ofsnow to Washington and Baltimore by the time commuters are headinginto work Friday, the National WeatherService said. New York could pick up about 2 inches.

“I don’t think it will have a big impact,” said Bob Oravec,a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center inCollege Park, Maryland. “But historically some of our worst traffichas been with a little bit of snow. Usually that is when theyaren’t expecting it.”

Snow will start falling in Washington Thursday night and bymidnight in New York, Oravec said. Boston could see a dusting byFriday morning. The worst impact in Massachusetts will probably bealong Cape Cod, which juts into the Atlantic. Nantucket couldget as much as 6 inches.

Shipping threat

Oravec said the heart of the storm could pose more of a threatfor mariners. Hurricane force wind warnings have been posted forshipping lanes off the Mid-Atlantic States and a storm warning isin place from New Jersey to New England.

For the cities, the storm will be more of a “nuisance,”according to Dave Samuel, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. inState College, Pennsylvania. Most of the accumulation will be onnon-paved areas, he said.

The system will be followed by a brief chill and more flurriesover the weekend. “After that it does definitely warm up and allthe action shifts out to the West Coast,” Oravec said.

Then the pattern changes and temperatures are forecast to rise15 degrees above normal from Chicago to New York and into southernCanada starting Tuesday, said Commodity Weather Group LLC inBethesda, Maryland.

“We continue to track an impressive story rivaled only byDecember’s persistent warmth in terms of widespread above normaltemperature intensity and duration,” Matt Rogers, the group’spresident, wrote in a note to clients.

Samuel said after this weekend, warmer air will flood out of thesouth into the Northeast and blunt any more cold snaps descendingfrom Canada.

There will be a corresponding shift in the West, which willbring heavy rain to California and later across the central U.S.starting this weekend, Oravec said.

Related: 15 tips for driving safely on ice andsnow

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