NYC Weather Forecast: Snow Friday Night, Freezing Rain Saturday

NEW YORK, NY — The first real, prolonged snowfall of winter will begin falling on NYC around midnight Friday, and could build up 1 to 2 inches before turning to freezing rain (and then just regular rain) Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

A "snow alert" has been issued for Friday night through Saturday morning by the NYC Department of Sanitation — meaning the department began loading salt spreaders with salt, attaching snow plows to trucks, tying chains to tires and otherwise readying city workers to deal with snow.

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In addition, the NYC Emergency Management Department issued a "hazardous travel advisory" for Saturday morning. "New Yorkers are advised to exercise caution when driving, walking, or biking, and allow for additional travel time as roads may be slippery," city officials said.

The NWS, too, warned of "hazardous driving conditions on all untreated surfaces" from midnight Friday through 10 a.m. Saturday.

Friday's daytime skies will remain mostly sunny, government forecasters said, despite brutal temperatures in the mid-20s and wind chill temps between 5 and 15 degrees.

Snow is expected to start falling around midnight.

From there, "temperatures will increase overnight, and by daybreak Saturday... New York City should be right around freezing," the NWS said. "Thermal profiles suggest a quick transition to rain, however, with such cold temperatures in place, thinking the surface will take a bit longer to warm, and a period of light freezing rain
is possible, even at the coast."

City officials warned of a "brief period of freezing rain and icing roadways" possible around 7 a.m. or 8 a.m.

Here's the hour-by-hour forecast as of Friday afternoon, courtesy of AccuWeather:

Lead photo via a2050/Flickr