A winter storm is expected to move across the Northeast starting Monday and continuing through Tuesday, forecasters said, dumping up to a foot of snow in some areas extending from central Pennsylvania to the Catskills and the Hudson Valley in New York.
The heaviest snowfall will likely be north of New York City, said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.
The precipitation is expected to start as rain Monday evening in New York City and then turn to snow late Tuesday morning, said David Stark, a meteorologist with the New York Weather Service.
An inch or two of snow is expected in the New York City metro area and Long Island.
Inland parts of northeastern New Jersey, the lower Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut can expect heavy, wet snow with accumulations of up to nine inches, with locally higher amounts, especially north of I-84, late Monday night, the weather service said.
Snowfall rates could reach two inches per hour. In southern Westchester and coastal Connecticut, snowfall totals are expected to reach 2 to 4 inches, with higher amounts possible locally, forecasters said.
A winter storm watch was in effect for northeastern New Jersey, the lower Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut from Monday night into Tuesday. The New York Weather Service said.
On Sunday, forecasters forecast up to a foot of snow from central Pennsylvania across the Catskills and then through parts of southern New England, Massachusetts and across the Boston metropolitan area.
Drivers should expect a rough ride Tuesday in eastern Pennsylvania through the New York City area and into the Hudson Valley and southern New England, where visibility could be reduced due to locally heavy snow, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Bill Deger said.
During Tuesday's high tide in the early afternoon, “there may be pockets of minor, perhaps even moderate, coastal flooding along the East Coast,” said Rob Megna, a meteorologist with the Weather Service's office in Boston. “People should be aware of this even if they are not expecting a lot of snow.”
Mr Pereira of the Weather Prediction Center said the storm would be “fairly fast-moving”.
“By Tuesday evening, the system will emerge into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean,” he said, adding that the storm would be over by Wednesday morning.
Johnny Diaz Contributed to reports.
