Blizzard warnings issued from Delaware to Massachusetts as storm threatens East Coast

NEW YORK– A rapidly intensifying storm triggered blizzard warnings for New York, New Jersey and Boston on Saturday as communities along the East Coast prepared for the arrival of heavy snow and damaging winds on Sunday.

The National Weather Service increased its rating of the potential severity of a storm that was expected to be much milder just days earlier.

The weather service said about 12 to 24 inches of snow was possible in many areas as it issued blizzard warnings for New York City and Long Island, Boston and coastal communities in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Flooding is also possible in parts of New York and New Jersey, according to the release.

“Although we have a lot of these northeast winds that are producing heavy snow and impacts, it’s been several years since we’ve seen one of this magnitude over such a large region in this very populated part of the country,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist with the service’s Weather Prediction Center.

Snell said the storm would arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington before expanding toward Philadelphia and New York and reaching Boston in the evening.

The weather service said the storm could start as rain in some places before getting worse, with the heaviest snowfall expected at night and up to 5 centimeters of snow per hour at times in some areas, before easing Monday afternoon.

The weather service warned that the storm, with steady winds of 25 to 35 mph (40 to 56 kph), would “make travel dangerous if not impossible. Downed tree branches and power outages possible due to snow load and strong winds.”

Authorities have been scrambling to prepare for a storm that forecasters thought days ago would have a much more limited impact.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would step up efforts it made weeks ago to deal with heavy snowfall. But officials have waited for the moment to decide whether or not schools will open on Monday.

“We saw on Friday that the expectation was that we would probably face maybe 3 to 4 inches of snow. Quickly, that changed,” Mamdani said. “So we want to make sure that we’re making a decision based on up-to-date and accurate information.”

New York has brought in additional snow removal equipment from outside the city and plans to increase the use of geocoding to track bus stops and crosswalks that need plowing, he said.

As the storm approached, John Berlingieri abandoned his plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico to prepare his company, Berrington Snow Management, for what could well be a mammoth task: clearing snow from millions of square feet of asphalt surrounding Long Island’s shopping centers and industrial parks.

Employees spent the last few days recharging the batteries of the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow removal vehicles, before resting on Saturday.

“I expect at least a week of 24-hour work,” Berlingieri said. “We’ll work 24 to 36 hours straight, sleep for a few hours and then go back.”

The storm was approaching just as the icy remnants of a snowstorm that had hit the area a few weeks earlier were finally melting.

Authorities 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 probably go on and on with a good 20 streets where we know we’re going to have water and there’s going to 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 him until it’s too late, so please stay home.”

Many churches have canceled Sunday services and other activities. To compensate, St. Veronica Parish in Howell, New Jersey, added an additional Mass Saturday evening.

“Please stay safe, avoid unnecessary travel, and keep each other in prayer during the storm,” the Rev. Peter James Alindogan posted online.

___

Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Julie Walker in New York and Larry Neumeister in Brick Township, New Jersey, contributed.