Residents of New York, New Jersey and numerous coastal communities along the East Coast are bracing for a disrupted start to the new week with a late winter storm expected to arrive Sunday. A blizzard warning was issued for those areas on Saturday.
The winter storm is expected to bring widespread, heavy snow and hazardous travel conditions to the Philadelphia area Sunday through Monday, with forecasters raising confidence for major impacts.
The weather warning that has been issued — stretches from New Haven, Connecticut south to Delaware — including New York and Long Island as of 6 a.m. Sunday.
The warning is likely to extend to southern New England and Boston, according to a Bloomberg report.
Flooding is also possible in parts of New York and New Jersey, the AP said, citing the weather service.
Steady winds can ‘make travel dangerous’
The Met Office warned that sustained winds of 40 to 56 km/h could “make travel dangerous if not impossible”, with the risk of downed tree limbs and power outages due to the weight of the snow and strong gusts.
The weather forecast also warned that the storm could arrive quietly on Sunday, February 22 – bringing rain to some areas before intensifying later in the day.
The heaviest snow is expected on Sunday night, with some areas seeing up to 5 centimeters of snow per hour at times before tapering off on Monday afternoon.
The storm approached just as the icy remnants of a snowstorm that hit the region weeks ago were finally melting, the AP reported.
AccuWeather On-Air Meteorologist Ariella Scalese said this storm could mark the fifth straight weekend of snow in parts of the Northeast, including New York.
She noted that New York City is currently near its seasonal snowfall average, with recent temperatures well below normal across much of the Northeast.
