This is not your typical snowstorm.
That’s the message officials from both New York City and New Jersey hammered away at on Sunday as they prepared residents for what some meteorologists have predicted could be a historic weather event impacting the East Coast.
“We haven’t seen a storm like this in a decade. Some parts of the city could see up to 28in,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned on social media. Mamdani issued a travel ban starting Sunday at 9 p.m. until 12 p.m. Monday due to projected dangerous road conditions.
Roughly 35 million people are under blizzard warnings from Maryland to New Hampshire as a historic and powerful winter storm threatens to bring up to 2 feet of snow and strong winds to parts of the region.
On Sunday morning, rain and snow showers began to filter in across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. The low-pressure system will continue to intensify as it moves up the coast in the afternoon, spreading heavy snow and gusty winds.
The strongest part of the storm will come during the evening and overnight hours into Monday morning, with the possibility of 2-4 inches of snowfall per hour and 50-70 mph wind gusts. Travel conditions will be exceptionally dangerous, with visibility dropping under a quarter of a mile and deep snowdrifts expected to develop.
Projected snowfall totals for New York City and Boston range from a foot to 2 feet of snow. Philadelphia could receive up to 18 inches of snow, while Washington, D.C., is forecast to get 3 to 6 inches.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency and warned residents to stay off the roads starting Sunday night. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a snow emergency ahead of Sunday's snowfall and announced the closing of schools on Monday.
Mamdani also declared a state of emergency and announced schools will be closed Monday, marking New York City's first traditional snow day since 2019, the mayor said during a news briefing Sunday.
This is the first blizzard warning issued for New York City since 2017 and for Philadelphia since 2016. The last time all of New Jersey was under a blizzard warning was in 1996, while the last time all of Delaware was under a blizzard warning was 2010. A blizzard is a major snowstorm marked by wind gusts of at least 35 mph, combined with visibility of a quarter mile or less for three hours or more.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill warned that this storm is forecast to bring 3 inches of snow per hour, which is three times as much as the snowstorm that hit the region last month. The late-January storm impacted much of the U.S. and was responsible for the deaths of at least 50.
“This is a very heavy wet snow,” Sherrill said at a news briefing Sunday. “There are incredibly high winds, up to 60 miles per hour. That means that we could see branches and trees falling into the highway drifts and whiteout conditions. It will be incredibly dangerous — do not travel tonight.”
NJ Transit has will suspend bus, light rail and access link services starting 6 p.m. Sunday night. The service mentioned that the shutdown is temporary, and rail service adjustments are expected later in the evening, which will be shared “with ample advance notice.”
New Jersey resident Benjamin Cohen said he learned his lesson after not being prepared for last month’s storm.
“I ran out this morning at 7 a.m. to the local supermarket, and I grabbed as much food as I can, just to cook for later,” Cohen said. “Filled my car up with gas and going to enjoy not working tomorrow.”
Nikolis George, also a New Jersey resident, said she prepared for the storm by going to the grocery store with her fiance.
“I guess you could call this the calm before the storm,” George said. “When it really starts to crank up tonight and they’re expecting 40 to 50 mile-an-hour winds and 25 inches of snow, I mean, that’s a real, true, old-fashioned blizzard in my book.”
A rain and snow mix began falling in parts of New York City on Sunday morning as whiteout conditions set in. The rain is expected to subside by the afternoon as snowfall takes center stage, increasing in intensity in the evening with 1 to 2 inches falling per hour.
The snow is expected to subside by Monday afternoon and evening across the region.
Coastal flooding is also a concern through Monday, with 21 million people under alerts from Maryland to Maine. Atlantic City, New York, Long Island and Boston are included in these alerts, with 1 to 3 feet of inundation above ground level likely.
The waves at Long Branch Beach in New Jersey crashed powerfully against the shore Sunday morning, almost touching a nearby boardwalk.
Vulnerable areas near the waterfront or shoreline can expect flooding due to the combination of high tide and strong wind gusts.
Blustery and cold conditions are expected across the Northeast to start the week, but temperatures will rebound rather quickly following this storm. Highs for much of the region will reach the mid- to upper 40s throughout the second half of the week.
Flight cancellations and delays began to trickle in Sunday morning. Over 3,000 flights traveling into, within and from the U.S. have been canceled and 3,200 have been delayed, according to FlightAware.com.
John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport were responsible for the majority of delays and cancellations.
