U.S. East Coast Braces for Ferocious Winter Storm

(MENAFN) Blizzard warnings are in effect across a vast corridor of the US East Coast as a ferocious winter storm barrels toward the region, threatening to bury cities from the Mid-Atlantic to New England under heavy snow, howling winds, and dangerous coastal flooding.

The US National Weather Service announced early Saturday that nearly 30 million people face blizzard conditions stretching from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon — a zone that includes New York City, where snowfall could pile up to 18 inches, with isolated areas potentially seeing as much as 2 feet.

Warning zones extend from Delaware to southern Connecticut, with the most punishing snowfall anticipated Sunday night into the early hours of Monday. The Weather Service cautioned that accumulation rates could top 1 to 2 inches per hour during peak intensity.

The alerts mark the first blizzard warning issued for New York City since 2017. The last time the city faced a truly record-shattering snowfall was in 2016, when Central Park recorded 27.5 inches — the highest single-storm total since official record-keeping began in 1869.

According to The New York Times, sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph are expected to slash visibility to near zero while heightening the threat of widespread power outages and coastal flooding.

Commuters across the Northeast should brace for severe disruption. Authorities warned that travel is expected to become "dangerous, if not impossible," particularly during Monday morning and evening rush hours across major urban centers including Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

The storm's impact will vary sharply by location. Washington, DC, is projected to begin with a rain-snow mix early Sunday before transitioning to all snow by midday, with accumulations of up to 5 inches. Philadelphia could see up to 12 inches, while New York City and its surrounding areas — including Long Island, northeastern New Jersey, and coastal and southern Connecticut — may receive 15 to 20 inches or more, contingent on the storm's precise track.

Meteorologists have characterized the system as a classic nor'easter, expected to form off the Carolina coast before rapidly intensifying as it races northward along the shoreline.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city is mobilizing aggressively ahead of the storm's arrival, with sanitation crews deploying more than 700 salt spreaders and fitting 2,200 vehicles with snow plows. A workforce of 2,600 personnel — including 1,000 dedicated emergency snow shovelers — is set to begin operations early Sunday.

Residents are also being invited to register as paid emergency snow shovelers at local sanitation facilities as conditions deteriorate.

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