[5] By the afternoon of December 19, the large, low pressure region had moved off the East Coast, intensifying and bringing heavy snow to the major Mid-Atlantic cities.

Interacting with cold air from the west, snow broke out on the western side of the system, stretching from Oklahoma to southern Minnesota.

The storm grew to an immense size, stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Upper Midwest, spreading a line of thunderstorms in the Deep South as well late on December 24.

Originating from a weak area of low pressure that had formed from a large upper-level low in the Central U.S late on January 29, it began to track to the east, and due to interacting with cold air that was in place over the Northeast, snow began to form around the North Carolina–South Carolina border, with heavy snowfall beginning to creep northwards.

The first blizzard developed out of a large upper-level low moving into the Southwestern United States, drawing a huge amount of moisture with it.

Heavy snow subsequently developed over the Mid-Atlantic states as the storm's center tracked across North Carolina towards the Atlantic Coast.

An antecedent and nearly-stationary upper-level trough over the Maritime Provinces of Canada served to block the storm system from following the traditional northeast track into New England.

Instead, during the AM hours of February 6, the storm center slowed its northeasterly movement as it continued to deepen east of Virginia Beach, before it eventually was forced eastward.

Easterly winds and onshore flow contributed to light snow accumulations of less than one inch in Boston, Cape Cod, and parts of coastal Rhode Island.

A strong blocking regime of high pressure over the Canadian Maritime provinces prevented the storm system from exiting to the east.

This resulted in a cutoff low (not influenced by the predominant jet stream currents), which took a highly unusual track, retrograding west into New York state before looping back out to sea.