New York’s Staten Island. After some rainy weather caused by an Alberta Clipper storm, New York City is expected to have a snowfall this week.
According to the National Weather Service, a clipper storm is a swift storm that moves from Alberta, Canada, across the Great Lakes and enters the United States. When these storms move in, they usually bring fluffy snow, but this time around, New York City won’t see that.
The city will only witness a few non-accumulating snow showers before a possible snow squall—a rapid, intense burst of snow accompanied by strong winds—even though parts of upstate New York are predicted to receive up to a foot of snow from this system.
Snow from the clipper itself
Bryan Ramsey, a weather service meteorologist, said the storm’s effects will start to show in New York City on Wednesday evening.
The clipper will bring some precipitation to the region, but the system is predicted to stay well north of the five boroughs.
According to Ramsey, it appears like snow is in the forecast, namely for the regions north and west of the city. Although snow accumulation is not predicted for New York City, there is a potential that we may get a few flakes on Wednesday night, when the event is expected to begin.
Forecasted rainfall/liquid equivalent quantities in New York City from Wednesday, December 4, to Thursday, December 5, 2024 are displayed in a National Weather Service graphic. (The National Weather Service is credited.)AccuWeather is the source of this.
The city may experience these possible snow flakes on Wednesday night before they quickly turned into rain in the late afternoon. After that, the rain will continue into Thursday and continue into Thursday night before ending. Ramsey notes that homeowners may witness about a tenth of an inch of rain, with some localized regions receiving more, even if he does not think the city will see any snow accumulation.
Senior meteorologist Bob Larson of AccuWeather reaffirmed this prediction, saying he thinks the city will get a few rain or wet snow showers on Wednesday evening.
“It’s above freezing where it’s snowing, so it wouldn’t really accumulate on any surface, not just roads,” Larson said.
Wednesday night is predicted to be between the mid-30s and the 40s, which will keep it from freezing.
The snow squall
The clipper will bring a cold front into the region that will pass into the city just in time for Thursday morning rush hour, sometime between 5 and 9 a.m., Larson said, even if it will just deliver a few showers.
A quick, intense rain or snow shower lasting 15 to 20 minutes could be caused by this front. “The cooler temperatures coming in from the northwest would probably turn the precipitation over to snow, even if it starts as rain,” Larson adds.
Forecast snow squall conditions for New York City on Thursday, December 5, 2024 are displayed in this AccuWeather graphic. AccuWeather is the source of this.AccuWeather is the source of this.
There will be significant reductions in visibility, which might hamper traffic, Larson continued. There are a few innocuous raindrops falling while you drive, but all of a sudden, it turns into snow and falls heavily in a quick burst that is difficult to see or anything. That might be a problem, but it will be resolved quickly.
According to Larson, this brief storm is not anticipated to be broad and would resemble a brief summer thunderstorm in that it might have significant effects in some parts of the city while having little to no effect in others.
Although roads are not predicted to ice over because temperatures are not predicted to fall below freezing, they will still be wet.
By 9 a.m. on Thursday, the temperature is expected to drop from about 40 degrees at dawn to the mid-30s. As Larson noted, the roads should be dry by the time temperatures hit the freezing point, which is not anticipated until the late afternoon.
The threat of howling winds
“The gusty winds will probably be the biggest weather story,” Larson said.
Southwest winds will get brisk on Wednesday ahead of the front, with gusts of up to 25 mph and speeds of 10 to 20 mph, according to Larson. On Thursday, winds from of the west will average 15 to 30 mph until the clipper moves offshore, with gusts reaching 40 to 50 mph.
New York’s predicted cold wind conditions for Thursday, December 5, 2024 are displayed in an AccuWeather graphic. AccuWeather is the source of this.AccuWeather is the source of this.
“Gusts of forty, forty-five, fifty miles per hour are sufficient to potentially cause damage,” Larson added. It is surely sufficient to blow loose items around, at the very least. Trash cans, yard ornaments, holiday decorations, or anything else individuals have out during this season.
According to Larson, such unsecured objects could be severely damaged by strong winds. Make sure to secure your lawn reindeer before the upcoming system if you don’t want them to go back to the North Pole.
Overnight Thursday, as the temperature drops into the 20s, these winds will remain strong. According to Larson, temperatures could feel like they are in the lower teens or perhaps the upper single digits when combined with the impact of the blustering wind.
According to Larson, it will feel more like January or mid-winter than the first week of December.
On Friday, there will be sunshine and a little decrease in wind speed. Winds are expected to reach 15-20 mph as of Tuesday afternoon, with gusts reaching up to 30 mph.
On Friday, the temperature will remain cold. Although it will feel more like the upper teens, the daily high may reach the mid-30s.
It is not anticipated that this cold snap will last for weeks at a time. Although the temperature will remain frigid, Larson predicts that it will start to warm up early next week, in preparation for the next rainstorm, which is expected to arrive on Monday or Tuesday.
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