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Winter storm

The hardest part about finding Nemo, the winter weather monster that is scheduled to slam the Northeast tomorrow, is determining its path.

Weather stations have been reporting conflicting forecasts for Northeast Pennsylvania and the Carbon County area over the last few days because current weather models are shifting rapidly and contradicting each other.According to Tamaqua Area Weatherman Ryan Fannock, who posted the latest model projections early this morning, NAM models are showing one to three inches of snow for the area while GFS models are showing two to five inches.The National Weather Service has already issued a Winter Storm Watch for the region, stating that there is a "potentially significant winter storm to affect the area Friday into Saturday."The storm watch states that low pressure will develop near the Carolina coast late today and track northeastward while rapidly intensifying through Friday night. This track pushes the storm to the east with the potential for significant snowfall.The only forecast that seems to be consistent between many major meteorologists is that Nemo, the winter storm, not the cute orange clown fish you may remember from Pixar's movie "Finding Nemo," will bring some type of precipitation to this area Friday into Saturday.The National Weather Service states that snow will develop tomorrow morning and then mix or change to sleet and rain as it moves from southeast to northwest. Snow could be heavy at times in the afternoon and evening hours before ending early Saturday morning. Snow totals could be between four and 10 inches with possible higher accumulations in the southern Poconos.According to AccuWeather, Friday morning will begin as cloudy and become windy as the snow moves in. A total of one to three inches of snow is possible before changing over to rain, followed by a little more snow then more rain. In the evening, snow will continue with the possibility of accumulating an additional one to two inches of snow.Meteorologists at the Weather Channel are calling this upcoming storm "historic" before it even hits, saying that it has the potential to drop over two feet in some areas of the Northeast, mainly in the New England region.The reason is because a storm system moving through the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes will merge with the low pressure system that is expected to form near the Carolina coast as the two move toward the Northeast. Pending on when they merge, as well as the track of the low pressure system off the coast, will depend on how hard the area will get hit.If the low pressure intensifies and follows the "40/70 benchmark," as the Weather Channel reports is the track most "major East Coast snowstorms are observed to pass over," then heavy snow is expected for most of New England and upstate New York with accumulations of more than a foot possible.For the TIMES NEWS coverage area, the Weather Channel is reporting snow showers Friday morning before changing over to a mixture of rain and snow. Snow accumulation is less than one inch by the evening. An additional two to four inches of snow is expected Friday night.