SNOW DAZE IN STORE
Grab G a shovel, NYC
Mother Nature is taking that “Let It Snow” thing a little too seriously.
New York’s first significant winter storm of the season will make Sunday travel a mess — and could to dump 1-4 inches on the city and Long Island before it passes, forecasters warned.
The first part of the storm will arrive midday Sunday from the south, according to Accuweather.
About an inch of snow could collect on the ground in the five boroughs and on Long Island.
“This is a very difficult storm to prepare for,” Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said Saturday. “We have cold air in the beginning. We have a period of moisture and rain. And then we have cold air on the back end.”
The city’s fleet of 705 salt spreaders are loaded and ready to go, Garcia said, and 1,500 plows will be deployed once two inches of snow accumulates.
“There might be a small accumulation before it changes over to mostly rain later Sunday,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines. Areas north and west of the city will be colder, and may see freezing rain or some light accumulation of snow.
The Hudson Valley is expected to see six to 12 inches of snow, and up to a foot could fall in northern New Jersey, the Catskills and northeastern Pennsylvania.
Southern Connecticut, Rhode Island and much of Massachusetts are under a winter storm watch, with up to a foot forecast in those regions for Monday as well.
But if the front shifts just slightly, the city could see more snow, Kines said.
“There’s not a whole lot of margin for error on this one,” he added.
Thanksgiving is the busiest air-travel weekend of the year, with some 31.6 million people flying. Sunday was expected to be the single busiest day, with nearly 74,400 flights scheduled, according to American Airlines.
Sunday car travel will be wet, and roads could be icy, especially heading west through Pennsylvania.
Monday morning’s commute could be a nightmare, too, with freezing rain or snow falling as the city heads back to work and school after the long holiday weekend.