It will not quite match up to a blizzard, but from Sunday night to Tuesday morning, the powerful storm headed for the New York area will bring heavy snow and strong winds.
Accuweather meteorologist Bill Deger said the storm would drop up to 10 inches on the five boroughs, with more forecast for the Hudson Valley.
Deger said the snow would begin late on Sunday and continue to fall on Monday for most of the day, and could last until Tuesday.
It will come with strong winds of approximately 25 mph, especially from Sunday to Monday overnight. That falls below the 30 mph needed for blizzard-level winds to hit, but with temperatures powered by a polar vortex in the lower 20s and “real feel” in the lower teens, that may seem like nitpicking. Deger said, “It will make for some treacherous travel.”
From the upper Midwest to the Northeast, severe weather warnings have increased. Snow was expected to begin on Saturday afternoon in Chicago and travel gradually east. When the cold front crashes into another mass of air coming up from the south, the storm, and the slightly warmer coastal air, will grow into a nor’easter.
And while Deger acknowledged that he already had a couple of major storm predictions going bust this season, this one seems more of a sure thing, he said. He said, “This one looks to be more on the snowy side, because of all the cold air we have in front of it.”
Saturday morning temperatures were in the upper teens, and during the day they were predicted to stay below freezing. The thermometer is likely to remain on Sunday in the 20s, Deger said.
Slightly warmer air will arrive on Monday, meaning that the snow could transform to a combination of snow and sleet in some areas of coastal New Jersey and Long Island.
In the meantime, it is possible that the Hudson Valley and inland New Jersey will have a few extra inches of snow. “But it may be an all-snow event, especially in the city and in the north,” Deger said.
