Buried … NYC Preps for More Than 1 Foot of Snow

NEW YORK, NY — March is roaring in like a lion, with most of New York and New Jersey under a winter storm warning for heavy snow from Sunday night to Monday evening. The storm could dump more than a foot of snow on New York City.

Up to 13 inches of snow was projected by Monday morning in Manhattan and between 10 and 14 inches in suburban Long Island, National Weather Service meteorologist John Murray said. Wind gusts could near 35 mph, which will make travel very hazardous or impossible, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s a classic Nor’easter, that’s for sure,” Murray said.

To help you weather the storm, News 4 New York will begin airing at 4:30 a.m. — half an hour early — to give you extra coverage on the storm, roads, school closings, delays and more.

The city will have 1,300 sanitation workers spreading salt and plowing streets by 7 p.m. Sunday, and more than 2,500 on duty on Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

“It’s the first of March, which as you know is the month that we say comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” the mayor said Sunday. “It’s pretty clear that the lions are getting ready to roar.”

Continental Airlines said the winter storm will affect flights in the northeast through Tuesday. The airline encourages travelers to delay their trip, which they can do online for free. NJ Transit cautions riders to leave extra time getting to and from their destinations, and suggests everyone check its travel alerts page for up-to-the-minute service information. To give riders more travel options, the agency said that customers holding any NJ Transit ticket or pass will be able to use it on any mode — rail, bus or light rail.

New York City-area courts planned to remain open Monday, but thousands of new jurors were told not to report for duty in New York City, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties, said David Bookstaver, spokesman for the state office of Court Administration.

The jurors hearing pending cases may come to court if the judge orders, he said.

The National Weather Service expected the storm to begin with a mixture of snow and sleet mostly over the southern part of the tri-state Sunday morning, with about an inch of snow and sleet possible in the area.

Precipitation will slough off in the afternoon, but the snow isn’t going away. The white stuff will begin to fall across the tri-state Sunday night. It will continue, heavy at times. into Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Only some parts of the lower Hudson Valley and northeast New Jersey will be spared.

A warm burst of air should produce a mixture of snow and sleet — or change it all over to sleet — Monday morning, but it’ll change back to all snow by late Monday morning before finally tapering off in the afternoon, the weather service predicts.

Total accumulations are expected to range from 6 to 10 inches over Orange and western Passaic counties and 7 to 11 inches on the south fork of Long Island with 10 to 14 inches falling in between those areas.

The storm was expected to travel up the Hudson Valley as it moved northeast. The weather service issued a storm warning for Dutchess County from 10 p.m. Sunday into Monday night, predicting winds up to 25 mph and eight to 16 inches of snow.

High winds were also forecast for the greater Albany area, with up to seven inches of snow overnight and Monday.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday for the following areas: Queens, Suffolk, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Richmond (Staten Island), Nassau, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester and Orange counties in New York; Passaic, Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties in New Jersey; and New Haven, Fairfield, Middlesex and New London counties in Connecticut.

The storm was traveling north from the Southeast, where Alabama was first up for a rare white blanketing. Most roads there were clear, but snowfall totals ranging from 1 to 4 inches forced more than 210 churches in central Alabama to cancel morning services as a precaution.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York