Roommates, the East Coast is possibly preparing for another L regarding severe weather. According to the Associated Press, a rapidly intensifying winter storm triggered blizzard warnings on Saturday for New York City, New Jersey, and Boston, and for additional states, as experts warn of heavy snow and damaging winds on Sunday.
On Saturday (Feb. 21), the National Weather Service upped the potential severity of the winter storm. Days earlier, experts had predicted the weather would be much milder.
Now, the weather service is saying 1 to 2 feet of snow is possible in many areas. Blizzard warnings went out for New York City and Long Island, Boston, and coastal communities in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Flooding was also possible in parts of New York and New Jersey, the agency said.
“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 in this very populated part of the country,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the service’s Weather Prediction Center.
Meteorologist Snell said the winter storm would arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington D.C. before stretching toward Philadelphia and New York City. By evening, it will reach Boston.
The weather service said the winter storm could begin as rainfall in some places before worsening. Also, the heaviest snow is expected to fall at night with as much as two inches of snow per hour at times in some areas, before tapering off by Monday afternoon.
The National Weather Service warned that the winter storm, with steady winds of 25 to 35 mph would “make travel dangerous, if not impossible.”
“Scattered downed tree limbs and power outages possible due to snow load and strong winds,” the weather service said.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would expand on efforts it used to deal with a major snowfall weeks ago. But officials held off on deciding whether to open schools Monday for the time being.
“We saw on Friday there was expectation that the likelihood was that we were going to face maybe 3 to 4 inches of snow. Quickly that then changed,” Mamdani said. “So we want to make sure that we make a decision based on up-to-date and accurate information.”
Still, New York brought in additional snow clearing equipment from outside the city. Additionally, it planned to increase use of geocoding to keep track of bus stops and crosswalks that need clearing, the mayor said.
Just when blocks of ice from the last snowstorm were finally melting away, this new storm is approaching!
With the winter storm zeroing in, John Berlingieri scrapped plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico to prepare his company, Berrington Snow Management, for snow removal in Long Island. His employees spent the last few days recharging batteries on the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow removal vehicles. Saturday was a rest day for the crew. “I’m anticipating at least one week of work around the clock,” Berlingieri said.
Meanwhile, officials in Atlantic City, New Jersey, urged residents and casino visitors to stay off the streets, especially in low-lying neighborhoods prone to flooding.
“I could go on and on probably with a good two dozen streets where we know we will get water and there will be snow on top of that,” said Scott Evans, the city’s fire chief and emergency management coordinator. “So you won’t be able to see it until it’s too late, so therefore please stay at home.”
Many churches canceled Sunday services and other activities. To compensate, St. Veronica Parish in Howell, New Jersey, added an extra Mass on Saturday evening.
“Please stay safe, avoid unnecessary travel, and keep one another in prayer during the storm,” the Rev. Peter James Alindogan posted online.
Associated Press writers Adam Geller, Kathy McCormack, Julie Walker, and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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