NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A major wintry storm could drop more than a foot of snow over parts of upstate New York on Monday and Tuesday—but don't expect anything on par with that in New York City, which has gone more than 650 days without an inch or more of snow.
The last time the city saw an inch of the white stuff was on Feb. 13, 2022, when 1.6 inches was measured in Central Park. That was 650 days ago on Saturday.
Last winter, two days came just shy of an inch—0.9 inches was recorded in Central Park on both Feb. 27 and Feb. 28, 2023. They were the two snowiest days in what was an especially snowless season.
The city's snowless stretch doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon. While the city may see some flurries Tuesday as the lake effect snowstorm roars through upstate, the only additional precipitation in the forecast this week is rain.
Gov. Kathy Hochul warned upstaters to prepare for the post-Thanksgiving snowstorm as an arctic air mass crosses lakes Erie and Ontario.
The governor warned wintry wallop could dump up to 18 inches on counties south and southwest of Buffalo. Communities along Lake Ontario may see up to a foot of snow, while the city of Buffalo and the Finger Lakes could get a half-foot.
"The most hazardous weather conditions will be in the areas where lake effect snow bands form and produce a lot of snow in a short period, which will hamper travel in some places for the next day or so," Hochul said in a statement late Sunday.
New York City will stay mostly dry throughout the storm, though some flurries may pop up Tuesday, especially in the afternoon, according to AccuWeather.
Monday will be dry with temps reaching about 52 degrees in the afternoon before plummeting into the 30s by Monday night. The low in the city will be just 32, while the suburbs will only be in the upper 20s.
Highs will near 40 on Tuesday and Wednesday amid windy and partly sunny conditions.
Highs are forecast to return to the upper 40s by Thursday, and to the low 50s for the weekend, when more periods of rain are in the forecast.
This story was updated to reflect that it's been 650 days since an inch of snow fell in NYC, not since there was "measurable" snow, which is defined as 0.1 inches.