The storm dropped up to 2 feet (24 in; 61 cm) of snow in the Mid-Atlantic states, New England, and Atlantic Canada, while areas as far south as southern Georgia and far northern Florida had brief wintry precipitation, with 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) of snow measured officially in Tallahassee, Florida.

[3] On January 3, blizzard warnings were issued for a large swath of the coast, ranging from Norfolk, Virginia all the way up to Maine.

Overall, 22 people were confirmed to have been killed due to the storm, and at least 300,000 residents in the United States lost power in total.

Early on January 1, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) began to anticipate the possibility of a northward-tracking area of low pressure that would bring wintry precipitation to much of the East Coast of the United States in the first week of January,[4] exacerbating an extended period of anomalously cold weather.

[5] Due to modeling confining of precipitation to relatively narrow bands at the time, initial forecasts on the storm's impacts were uncertain.

[7] However, as the anticipated event drew closer, the system's genesis grew increasingly complex with the development of two separate disturbances in the jet stream over the upper Mississippi Valley and the eastern extent of the Rocky Mountains; these two would shape the eventual coverage of wintry precipitation associated with the storm.

[8] Later that day, rapid cyclogenesis led to the formation of a 995 millibar low-pressure area north of the Bahamas and east of Jacksonville, Florida,[9] with cloud cover quickly expanding to the north and east ahead of the storm's center; consequently, the WPC began issuing regular storm summaries at 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EST) on January 3.

[10] After forming, the extratropical cyclone continued to explosively deepen, tracking northward parallel to the United States East Coast.

[11] By the morning of January 4, the powerful storm system had deepened by 53 mbar (hPa; 1.57 inHg) in 21 hours—one of the fastest rates ever observed in the Western Atlantic[12]—to a pressure of 952 mbar (952 hPa; 28.1 inHg), with a coastal cold front focusing heavy snowfall and thundersnow along immediate coastal regions.

[15] As the day progressed, the development of several intense snowbands allowed for heavy snowfall rates of up to 3 in (7.6 cm) per hour over New England,[16][17] which were enhanced further by the influx of warm low-level air due to the cyclone's circulation.

[18] The storm bottomed out at a pressure of 950 mbar (950 hPa; 28 inHg) when it was centered about 120 mi (190 km) southeast of Nantucket Island,[19] with an eye-like feature evident.

[25] The snowfall forced the closure of Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport, cancelling 78 incoming and outgoing flights.

[36] One person was killed in a traffic collision on Interstate 95 in Clarendon County due to icy road conditions following the storm's passage.

[38] Due to the inclement conditions, 66 North Carolina school districts issued cancellations, affecting thousands of students.

Along the Outer Banks, gusts in excess of 70 mph (110 km/h) caused rough seas, resulting in coastal flooding.

[46] Due to the local geography, water levels in Chesapeake Bay fell in response to the storm's circulation passing to the east; the Patapsco River near Fort McHenry fell 3.49 ft (1.06 m) below the mean low water level, reaching its lowest height since 1989.

In New Jersey, many school closures took places ahead of the blizzard on January 3, especially towards the coastal areas of the state, due to expected snow totals of 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) and gusty winds being predicted.

[56] In Connecticut, the National Weather Service office in Bridgeport recorded 9.0 inches (23 cm) of snow and wind gusts to 52 miles per hour (84 km/h).

In Boston, a storm tide of 15.16 ft (4.62 m) was recorded during the blizzard which flooded areas of the financial district, including a subway station.

[12] A National Hockey League game between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers was postponed as a result of the storm.

While snowfall amounts closer to the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia were very low, winds gusting up to 203 km/h (126 mph) were reported in Saint-Joseph-du-Moine, causing widespread power outages.

[60] On 5 January 2018, the storm was also responsible for a persistent thunderstorm that brought 1.84 inches (47 mm) of rain and gale-force winds to the island of Bermuda.