NYC issues weather alert as snow squalls take aim at region

New York City warned drivers to look out for potential snow squalls Sunday afternoon as a line of the ferocious storms moves across Northern New Jersey. The squalls “may just kind of barely scrape” the city limits, according to Fox Weather meteorologist Cody Braud, who said they were already posing hazards to drivers in Jersey and many sections of Upstate New York.

“It’s the wind, the whipping of the snow and just lower visibility which has caused some pretty notable crashes in the past,” said Braud, warning of the dangers of the white out mini blizzards. The New York City Emergency Management Department has issued a Weather Alert ahead of the potential gale event as temperatures were set to drop from the low 40s to the low 30s between noon and the early evening hours.

“While the snow squalls we could see are expected to last a short period of time, it could be a hazardous period to be on the roads and we want all New Yorkers to be prepared,” said Mayor Eric Adams. Any snow that would fall in the boroughs was unlikely to break the city’s historic 699 day drought dating back to February 2022, during which Big Apple residents haven’t seen a one day snow total of an inch or more, Braud said.

That streak could come to an end within the next few days however, according to the weatherman. “The next chance of potentially breaking that drought would be Monday night into Tuesday morning,” said Bruad. “There’s going to be a winter storm across the south today and tomorrow. That same system is going to move up the East Coast, which could bring an end to some of these streaks across the I 95 corridor — Baltimore, Philly and New York City could all finally see at least an inch of snow or more.” If that storm fails to drop any powder on Gotham, another storm has the possibility to bring snow to the city on Thursday into Friday and Saturday, although it was too early to accurately make predictions, according to Braud.

Unlike last week, when the city was deluged by heavy rain on two occasions, temperatures this week will mostly be below the freezing mark. “When it’s cold then there’s no moisture and when there’s moisture there’s no cold,” Braud said of the unprecedented phenomenon that has plagued the city for nearly two years.

“So it’s finally those two things teaming up to at least give us a shot at breaking this miserable streak of not even seeing an inch of snow,” he explained. In a typical year, Central Park averages nearly 30 inches of snow..