STATE COLLEGE —More likely than not, the approaching Winter Storm Jonas, which has already prompted an emergency declaration in Pennsylvania, will deliver a snowfall that’s more nuisance than blizzard in Columbia and Montour counties late tonight into Saturday.

Columbia County could see 1 to 6 inches of snow, with the heaviest amounts accumulating toward the southern reaches of the county, according to projections from the State College-based National Weather Service.

Some portions of northern Columbia may see no more than a dusting.

However, National Weather Service meteorologist Greg DeVoir cautioned that Jonas is shaping up to be both powerful — it’s prompted tornado warnings in the Gulf Coast — and tricky to predict.

“A slight adjustment in the track” of the storm could mean several more inches of snow for Columbia and Montour than previously forecast, DeVoir noted.

On Thursday night, in advance of a storm approaching from the south and projected to pound the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area with accumulations approaching 3 feet, the NWS was predicting a 50 percent chance of snowfall for the Bloomsburg area late tonight.

It estimated flakes would begin falling after 11 p.m.

The chance of snowfall increases to as high as 80 percent for Bloomsburg on Saturday morning.

But as of Thursday, the NWS was predicting only a 45 percent chance Columbia and Montour would be blanketed by 4 or more inches.

And we should see the last of the snow by sometime Saturday afternoon, said DeVoir.

In addition to snowfall, the area can expect 20 mph-plus gusts at times Saturday and temperatures that won’t rise above freezing all weekend.

With parts of southeastern and south-central Pennsylvania bracing for up to 2 feet, Gov. Tom Wolf declared a state of emergency.

Before it had even arrived, Wolf described Jonas as “one of the most significant widespread storms to impact the state in several years.”

“Declaring a state of emergency allows the commonwealth to deliver state resources wherever they’re needed as quickly as possible,” Wolf said in a statement. “We have multiple state agencies working at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to monitor weather conditions across the state and we will respond to help local governments and residents in need.”