The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings Saturday for parts of the East Coast, including New York City and Boston, as officials braced for Sunday’s arrival of heavy snow and damaging winds. The agency said the storm’s potential severity increased after earlier forecasts had suggested a much more limited impact.
Cody Snell, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, said the region normally sees nor’easters that bring heavy snow and strong impacts but that it had been “several years since we saw one of this magnitude across this large of a region in this very populated part of the country.” Snell said the storm was expected to arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington, stretch toward Philadelphia and New York City, and reach Boston in the evening.
In its warnings, the weather service said 1 to 2 feet of snow was possible in many areas, including New York City and Long Island, Boston and coastal communities in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The agency also warned that flooding was possible in parts of New York and New Jersey, as conditions worsened. It cautioned that the storm could begin as rainfall in some locations before changing, with the heaviest snowfall expected at night.
The forecast called for as much as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow per hour at times in some areas, before tapering off by Monday afternoon. The weather service also warned that steady winds of 25 to 35 mph would “make travel dangerous, if not impossible,” and said scattered downed tree limbs and power outages were possible because of snow load and strong winds.
As the storm zeroed in, officials scrambled to prepare for a change in expectations that had shifted quickly over the prior days. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would expand its efforts used for a major snowfall weeks earlier, while holding off on deciding whether to open schools Monday until officials had “up-to-date and accurate information.”
Mamdani said the city’s planning changed after Friday’s updated outlook, when the snow forecast shifted from an earlier expectation of about 3 to 4 inches to a higher-impact scenario. He said the city planned to bring in additional snow-clearing equipment from outside New York and to increase the use of geocoding to track bus stops and crosswalks that needed clearing.
In Long Island, John Berlingieri said he scrapped plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico to prepare his snow-management company, Berrington Snow Management, for large-scale clearing work around shopping malls and industrial parks. Berlingieri said employees spent the last few days recharging batteries on the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow-removal vehicles before resting Saturday.
Berlingieri said he was “anticipating at least one week of work around the clock,” adding that the crew planned to “work 24 to 36 hours straight, sleep for a few hours and then go back.” The storm also approached as icy remnants of a snowstorm weeks earlier were finally melting in the region.
In Atlantic City, New Jersey, officials urged residents and casino visitors to stay off the streets, especially in low-lying neighborhoods where flooding was a concern. Scott Evans, the city’s fire chief and emergency management coordinator, said many streets were prone to water and snow buildup and warned that the hazards could be hard to see until it was too late, telling residents: “So you won’t be able to see it until it’s too late, so therefore please stay at home.”
Elsewhere, churches canceled Sunday services and other activities. In Howell, New Jersey, St. Veronica Parish added an extra Mass Saturday evening, and the Rev. Peter James Alindogan posted online, “Please stay safe, avoid unnecessary travel, and keep one another in prayer during the storm,” as the region prepared for Sunday conditions.