A blockbuster snowstorm is expected to transform New York City into a winter wonderland on Wednesday — with as much as 30 inches expected in some areas, according to forecasts.
The Big Apple could get blanketed in as much as a foot of snow as the storm sweeps through the East Coast between Tuesday and Thursday.
“It looks like the city is right on the border of a 12- to 18-inch zone,” Accuweather meteorologist Tom Kine told The Post Monday. “Could there be a foot of snow in the city? Certainly. It wouldn’t take much of a shift in the track to put the city in the one-foot zone.”
The system — which is expected to span from the Midwest to New England — is building off energy from another powerful storm that slammed the West Coast over the weekend.
As the system picks up strength somewhere along the mid-Atlantic or Northeast coast later Wednesday into Thursday, a band of particularly heavy snow is likely to develop. This will be intensified by strong winds, which could create localized blizzard conditions.
Snow will begin falling in New York City on Wednesday afternoon and will last through the Thursday morning rush. New Yorkers should plan on staying inside before digging out around lunchtime, when the precipitation begins to let up.
Temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday will hover in the lower 30s.
“Snow will be heavy at times, and wind will pick up. It will be like a blizzard at times Wednesday night,” said Kine. “Snow will be coming down at the rate of an inch or two an hour at times, which is a very heavy snow.”
Meanwhile, the Catskills and Poconos could see as much as 30 inches.
“If the storm reached its full potential and everything lined up correctly, some places could get 30 inches,” Kine added. “For those people that are skiers who head to the Poconos or the Catskills, this is a tremendous boost.”
Accumulations will likely be dampened by sleet across eastern Long Island, but other areas could be pounded with light, fluffy snow, which is ideal for both shoveling and recreation.
“I think for the most part, this is fluffy snow, which in terms of moving it around, shoveling it and plowing it … that’s good news,” Kine said. “It’s much easier to push it around. This won’t be back-breaking snow. The downside is when the wind picks up, there is a lot of blowing and drifting around.”
New York City’s Department of Sanitation issued a Winter Operations Advisory on Monday ahead of the nasty weather mid-week.
“Our snow fighting equipment will be ready for any winter weather coming our way,” the agency tweeted.
The storm could easily surpass last winter’s total snowfall in the city in just one day. Only 4.8 inches of snow fell in Central Park last year, the lowest seasonal total since 2001-2002. Typically, about 26 inches of snow falls in Central Park every winter.
If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, Kine said Wednesday’s storm may have a lasting effect thanks to below-average temperatures over the next week.
“If we get the upper range of our predictions, there is a chance the snow sticks around through Christmas,” he said, before adding, “We don’t see any storms on the horizon after this one.”
