Our whole lives we’ve heard meteorologists use the team  “I-95 Corridor” during their weather reports. It’s an easy visual to help viewers understand a the breakdown of the region, but it’s actually represents more than just the highway. Adam Joseph explains:

With this upcoming storm, it is the perfect opportunity to let you on some Geography. The “FALL LINE” is a real term used to describe the difference in two regions. South and east of the line you have the COASTAL PLAIN, west and north you have the PIEDMONT.

COASTAL PLAIN is relatively flat land from the ocean to I-95. Really it consists of flat land, and small rolling hills with a rise in elevation of 400 feet from Camden County to the shore.

PIEDMONT is when you start to quickly head up in elevation over a short distance with larger hills, less flat land, and eventually mountains.

The separation between the two can do wild things in the atmosphere. Is is like a magic line for the rain to go to snow or sleet. Heavy snow and more cold NW due to the rise in elevation (typically air gets colder the higher up you are in elevation). The flat land of the Coastal Plain can allow the warm, east ocean air to rush inland and not stop until it hit the FALL LINE.

I hope this educates you a little on why it is so difficult to forecast in our region with two different geographical areas. Each storm is unique on their own, but when push comes to shove when a storm is expected to bring a mixed bag, you lean on the FALL LINE to separate BIG snow totals vs not much at all.