Northeast Could Be Hit With Major Snowstorm
The
first sign of trouble is likely to be flurries early Friday morning.
That is when a large low pressure system will be making its way north,
gathering moisture as it moves toward the Northeast.
But that could be the first taste of what could be a major storm, forecasters said on Thursday.
At
some point Friday night, the arctic jet stream will drop down from
Canada and intersect with the polar jet stream, which usually travels
through the lower 48 states.
"They
will cross somewhere between New Jersey and Nantucket," said Tim Morrin,
a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. "That is where the
center of the storm will deepen and explosively develop."
While
the forecast is still subject to change, the current indication is that
while New England will bear the brunt of the storm's severity — with
more than two feet of snow and blizzardlike conditions – New York City
and the surrounding area are also in for a significant hit.
By
the time the storm has passed through, sometime on Saturday,
forecasters predict the storm will have dumped as much as a foot of snow
in the area, while delivering blistering winds reaching 50 m.p.h., and
flooding coastal areas.
For the
past 48 hours, weather predictions for the city and the suburbs have
varied wildly – with forecasts calling for something more than a dusting
to a car-burying snowfall.
But by
Thursday forecasters were becoming more confident that the Northeast was
about to experience the worst winter storm of the year.
"There is enough evidence right now to say the legacy of this storm will be widespread," Mr. Morrin said.
Just
what parts of the metropolitan area will be hardest hit will become
clearer as the low pressure system moves north, but Mr. Morrin said that
all the forecasting patterns put the storm on "a historically favorable
track."
The morning commute on
Friday could be affected by light snowfall. Temperatures are expected to
rise during the day, which could mean a snowy rainy mix – or just rain,
Mr. Morrin said.
However, by
Friday night, temperatures are expected to drop precipitously as cold
air from the north moves down, turning the precipitation into snow.
"When the door opens it is going to open wide," Mr. Morrin said.
For
New Yorkers, that could mean that the slushy mess from the daytime
could freeze, not only creating hazardous conditions on the road but
also weighing down tree branches and power lines.
Michael
Clendenin, a spokesman for Consolidated Edison, said the utility was
making preparations for the storm and would have extra crews available
to deal with any problems.
The Long Island Power Authority, which has been blasted for its response to Hurricane Sandy, also said it was preparing.
Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg was planning to meet with sanitation workers on
Thursday, hoping to show that the city is fully prepared come what may.
Mr. Morrin said that as the storm
moves north, it was also expected to pile water up along the coastal
areas. He said there was danger of flooding from the Battery in
Manhattan, to all of coastal Long Island as well as parts of
Connecticut.
As the storm moves north, the heaviest bands of snow and rain would tend to occur northwest of the storm's center.
"A
lot depends on where the heaviest bands of snow develop," he said. "If a
band sits over an area you can get three inches of snow an hour."
By Friday morning, he said, it will be clearer where the worst of the storm was likely to hit.
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