New York Weather: City under first blizzard warning in years as region braces for bomb cyclone
The New York Weather outlook hardened Saturday as blizzard warnings were issued for New York City, New Jersey and coastal communities ahead of a storm expected to arrive Sunday and possibly dump more than a foot of snow while producing damaging wind gusts.
Blizzard warning window and immediate warnings
The blizzard warning for New York City takes effect at 6 a. m. Sunday and lasts through 6 p. m. Monday, and officials warned travel could be "dangerous, if not impossible. " The National Weather Service said scattered downed tree limbs and power outages are possible due to snow load and strong winds.
Forecast totals, wind and storm track
The National Weather Service increased its assessment and anticipated 1 ft to 2 ft of snow for New York City, Long Island, southern Connecticut and coastal communities in New Jersey and Delaware; the service also warned flooding was possible in parts of New York and New Jersey. Meteorologists described the storm as a low-pressure system forming off the North Carolina coast that will move north-northeast and rapidly deepen — a so-called "bomb cyclone" whose comma-shaped form will begin with light snow and pockets of rain before strengthening into heavy bands of snow targeting the mid-Atlantic, the Northeast and the Appalachians.
How fast it could fall and coastal impacts
In the New York City area, snowfall is expected to start Sunday morning and intensify in the afternoon and overnight, with up to 2 inches per hour possible overnight. Forecasters said bands of moderate to heavy snow will rotate from the southeast to the northwest during the evening into the overnight as the cyclone rapidly deepens, and conditions on Sunday night into Monday morning could produce intense wind gusts over 50 mph and bands of very heavy snowfall from the mid-Atlantic into southern New England.
City and regional preparations
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city could get up to 20 inches and told residents to stay inside and off the roads; he said the city was "now expecting between 13 to 17 inches of snow, but there is a slight chance we may see up to 20 inches, if not more, " and that efforts to get unhoused New Yorkers into shelters would begin Saturday afternoon. Mamdani also said the storm would mark the city's first blizzard in recent years, a point on which accounts differ.
Broader impact across states and cities
Roughly 26 million people were placed under blizzard warnings from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon across New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut, while about 63 million people were under winter alerts from Tennessee to Maine. Whiteout conditions and coastal flooding were expected in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and heavy snow and strong wind gusts will target the mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Appalachians; a cold rain was expected to continue over parts of the Carolinas to end the weekend.
Local orders, emergency staging and safety appeals
Philadelphia declared a snow emergency starting at 4 p. m. Sunday and closed public school buildings on Monday; the city's forecast office said "snowfall records are likely to be broken. " Mayor Cherelle Parker said 1, 000 city personnel, more than 800 pieces of equipment and about 25, 000 tons of salt were being staged. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Saturday for multiple counties including Albany and New York and activated the state's National Guard to assist storm response operations.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said federal resources were ready and urged residents to "stay home, stay safe, stay warm, and stay off the roads. " In Atlantic City, officials urged residents and casino visitors to stay off streets during the storm, especially in low-lying neighborhoods prone to flooding; Atlantic City fire chief and emergency management coordinator Scott Evans warned of "a good two dozen streets where we know we will get water and there will be snow on top of that, " urging people to stay at home.
Recent cold toll and what comes next
Officials noted the city is still grappling with the aftermath of a deep freeze: at least 19 people were found dead outdoors after temperatures plunged on 19 January and remained below freezing for 10 consecutive days, and at least 15 of the victims are believed to have died due to hypothermia. Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center, said it had been several years since the region saw a storm of this magnitude across such a large, highly populated area.
The storm is expected to first arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington, D. C., then stretch toward Philadelphia and New York City and reach Boston late Monday evening; officials have activated emergency operations, staged crews and equipment, and warned that the travel period from Sunday into Monday will be the next critical window to watch.
