New York City has been issued its first blizzard warning in nine years as a powerful nor’easter threatens to bring up to 20 inches of snow and wind gusts exceeding 55mph. The warning, which takes effect at 6am on Sunday and lasts until 6pm Monday, also covers New Jersey, Long Island, southern Connecticut, and coastal communities in Delaware.
The National Weather Service (NWS) upgraded its assessment, forecasting 1 to 2 feet of snow for the region. Flooding is possible in parts of New York and New Jersey. The warning comes as the city still has hillocks of ice left over from a major snowstorm nearly a month ago, during which 19 people were found dead outdoors, at least 15 from hypothermia after ten consecutive days of freezing temperatures.
“While we do get plenty of these nor’easters that produce heavy snow and strong impacts, it’s been several years since we saw one of this magnitude across this large of a region,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the NWS Weather Prediction Center. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city could see up to 20 inches and urged New Yorkers to stay indoors. Efforts to bring homeless residents into shelters began Saturday afternoon.
The storm will arrive in the Washington DC area on Sunday morning, then move toward Philadelphia and New York City, reaching Boston late Monday evening. The NWS warned that travel will become “dangerous, if not impossible,” with risk of downed trees and power outages due to heavy snow and strong winds. Officials in Atlantic City, New Jersey, also urged residents and casino visitors to stay off streets, particularly in low-lying areas prone to flooding.
