New York could potentially experience a White Christmas next weekend, as a winter storm is likely to strike several parts of the Northeast and affect holiday plans in what is one the busiest traveling stretches of the year.
The holiday week, which officially begins on December 18, is expected to start with clear skies and highs in the 40s until Wednesday. Lows are set to linger around just below freezing (30F) until the midweek, when the Northeast will see rain and snow comes its way until the end of the first half of the festive period.
Many parts of upstate New York will have seen at least a few couple of inches of snow by then but it’s still too early to determine how the storm will impact the Big Apple and whether the city will see any snow at all.
Rain is expected to fall in several areas within the I-95 corridor, as early as Thursday afternoon. The region includes some of the Northeast’s biggest cities, including Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C.
New York City could experience a White Christmas for the first time since 2009, according to next week’s weather predictions
Heavy snow is expected to fall in the Midwest as well as in upstate New York & Pennsylvannia trough much of the holiday week. New York City could see snow fall on its skyscrapers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Cloudy weather is then set to kick into the Big Apple on Saturday, which is Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, on Sunday, is supposed to be sunny with temperatures expected to reach high 20s, according to Fox Weather.
Other parts of New York, including Buffalo and Syracuse, are anticipating snowfall as soon as Friday until the end of the weekend.
Another possible scenario taking place over the next week is seeing a nor’easter hit New York City and other parts of the I-95 corridor on Friday until Christmas Day, reports Fox Weather meteorologist Christopher Tate.
In this case, rain could potentially turn into ‘really impactful snow — as in DOT is gonna need salt trucks,’ Tate said.
‘Something is going to happen and regardless it’s gonna be impactful, it’s going to affect Christmas travel,’ he added.
New York City has a 40-60 percent chance of at least one inch of snow on Christmas Day this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The last time that the Big Apple experienced a White Christmas was in 2009 when more than an inch of snow had been reported at Central Park at 7 a.m. on Christmas Day (pictured)
Rain could potentially turn into hail as precipitation is expected to kick into New York City starting on Thursday of next week
AAA estimates 112.7million people will journey 50 miles or more away from home from December 23 to January 2. That’s an increase of 3.6million people over last year and closing in on pre-pandemic numbers. 2022 is expected to be the third busiest year for holiday travel since AAA began tracking in 2000.
‘This year, travel time will be extended due to Christmas Day and New Year’s Day falling on Sundays,’ says Paula Twidale, AAA’s Senior Vice President of Travel. ‘With hybrid work schedules, we are seeing more people take long weekends to travel because they can work remotely at their destination and be more flexible with the days they depart and return.’
Nearly 102million Americans will drive to their holiday destinations. Despite roller-coaster gas prices in 2022, this holiday season will see an additional two million drivers compared to 2021.
Air travel will see a 14 percent increase over last year, with nearly 7.2million Americans expected to fly. Flights and airports will be packed this holiday season, reminiscent of pre-pandemic days.
Snow is removed from the field at Highmark Stadium before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins on Saturday, as the city of Buffalo experienced heavy snowfall
The Bills beat the Dolphins 29-32 on the final play of the game in a snow packed stadium in Orchard Park, New York, as quarterback Josh Allen is pictured celebrating the win
A fan snow blows the sidewalk outside Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, prior to the Bills-Dolphins game on Saturday
Demand for flights has surged despite higher airline ticket prices. AAA expects the number of people taking holiday flights this year will come close to matching 2019 when 7.3million Americans traveled by air.
The last time it snowed in New York City on Christmas Day was in 2009, according to The New York Post.
There had been two inches of snow reported in Central Park by 7 a.m. that year, although it is believed that the city did not experience any snowfall throughout the day.
Members of the Lack Placid Fire Department responded to a propane storage system incident that was damaged during snow removal on Saturday in Lake Placid, New York
More than 20,000 people were without power in New York as heavy snow brought tree limbs onto power lines
Utility crews, meanwhile, raced to restore power to tens of thousands of customers across New England and New York on Saturday after a powerful storm dumped 2 feet of snow in some places.
More than 160,000 customers in New England were in the dark as of the afternoon and another 20,000 were without power in New York as heavy snow brought tree limbs onto power lines, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages across the country.
Restoration efforts were complicated by snow still falling in some places, making travel dangerous. Doug Foley, Eversource president of electric operations in New Hampshire, said snow-covered roads were making it tough for workers to reach communities in order to assess damage and make repairs.
‘We are still taking on system damage in parts of the state where heavy, wet snow continues to fall, and hundreds of additional crews are coming to New Hampshire to support our restoration effort,’ Foley said in an emailed statement to media outlets.
As of Saturday afternoon, Eversource had restored power to nearly 61,000 customers in New Hampshire since the beginning of the storm, but another 40,000 remained without power, according to the utility.
