NEW YORK — Blizzard warnings were issued from Delaware to Massachusetts as a rapidly intensifying storm threatened the East Coast, with heavy snow and damaging winds expected to arrive in stages beginning Sunday. The National Weather Service increased its assessment of the storm’s potential severity after earlier forecasts suggested a much milder impact, according to the warning guidance described by meteorologists.
The Weather Service said 1 to 2 feet of snow was possible in many areas across the region covered by the alerts, while also flagging the risk of flooding in parts of New York and New Jersey. The agency said the storm could start as rainfall in some places before worsening, with the heaviest snowfall expected at night.
Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, said in remarks carried with the warning that the storm would arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington and then stretch toward Philadelphia and New York City before reaching Boston in the evening. He also pointed to how unusual the storm’s scale would be for a densely populated part of the country, noting it had been several years since a system of that magnitude had hit the region.
The National Weather Service warned that winds of 25 to 35 mph (40 to 56 kph) would intensify travel risks, saying the storm would “make travel dangerous, if not impossible. Scattered downed tree limbs and power outages possible due to snow load and strong winds.” Forecasters also warned of bursts of snowfall rates that could reach as much as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow per hour at times in some areas, before conditions begin tapering by Monday afternoon.
As the storm approached, officials and businesses in affected areas moved to expand readiness efforts. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would expand on snow-response steps used during a major snowfall weeks earlier, but he said officials were still deciding whether to open schools on Monday after the forecast changed.
Mamdani said expectation on Friday had been for less snow, and that the decision would be based on up-to-date information. He said the city planned to bring in additional snow clearing equipment from outside New York City and increase the use of geocoding to track which bus stops and crosswalks would need clearing.
In Long Island, John Berlingieri, who runs Berrington Snow Management, said he scrapped plans for a family trip to prepare his company for what he described as a potentially large job clearing snow from extensive areas around shopping malls and industrial parks. He said employees had spent the preceding days recharging batteries on the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow removal vehicles before resting on Saturday.
Berlingieri said his crews were preparing for long work shifts once conditions worsened, describing an expectation of at least one week of around-the-clock work. He said employees would likely work 24 to 36 hours straight, sleep for a few hours, then return.
Elsewhere, public safety officials and community leaders urged residents to stay off roads. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, officials urged residents and casino visitors to avoid streets, especially in low-lying neighborhoods prone to flooding, and Scott Evans, the city’s fire chief and emergency management coordinator, said residents would not be able to see danger developing until “it’s too late.”
Many churches canceled Sunday services and other gatherings. St. Veronica Parish in Howell, New Jersey, added an extra Mass on Saturday evening, and the Rev. Peter James Alindogan posted an online message asking people to avoid unnecessary travel and keep one another in prayer during the storm.