Major storm could strike Pittsburgh, Philly, NYC, and Boston with up to a foot of snow on Thursday

If you live anywhere between Pittsburgh and Maine, prepare for a snowstorm on Thursday, with some of the most severe impacts likely to hit New York City and Boston.

AccuWeather reports that six to 12 inches are possible in the worst impacted areas - shown in darkest blue on the map.

Elsewhere, lighter accumulations or slush are more likely.

The storm could significantly impact travel throughout the region, with one to two inches of snow falling per hour in some places.

As ever, caution is key in reading these predictions. There's a big difference between six and twelve inches, or three and six.

The National Weather Service, which provides a great deal of the key data news meteorologists like the folks at AccuWeather use in their predictions, has published a map that frames what we know in more conservative terms. The NWS focuses on the most likely accumulation, rather than the extremes of the possible range:

The NWS focuses on the most likely accumulation, rather than the extremes of the possible range. Here's the most likely case for New York City:

Here's the NWS's most extreme possible map for New York City:

And of course, there's always the possibility the storm will fizzle:

We encourage readers in the affected areas to follow updates on the storm situation at Business Insider, local news, and elsewhere - and prepare accordingly.