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Winter has gotten off to a cold, bitter start in New York—and it’s about to get even worse.
On Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for New York City from 1am Thursday morning through midnight on Friday. The agency is projecting three to six inches of snow to fall in the city, with more than six inches possible. The snow is expected to come down at a rate of up to one inch per hour beginning late Wednesday night and continuing into Thursday. Wind gusts are also forecasted to reach up to 41 miles per hour as the storm passes through the region.
Meteorologists are expecting the storm to turn into a “bomb cyclone.” The menacing term refers to a system that undergoes “bombogenesis,” which occurs when a “midlatitude cyclone rapidly intensified” and quickly drops in pressure, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Come Friday, a deep freeze is expected to set in, bringing temperatures low enough to make New York’s frigid New Year’s Eve feel pretty balmy. The NWS’s notice states that wind chills could dip as low as -25 late Thursday and Friday nights.
At the time of this article’s publishing, neither Governor Andrew Cuomo or Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offices had released statements regarding the storm. The last time a snowstorm of this magnitude hit the forecasts in New York City was last March, when Winter Storm Stella tried and failed to be an actual blizzard. Cuomo shut down above-ground subway service during the storm, which could serve as an indication of what’s to come as the city hunkers down for a good old-fashioned cyclone bombing.
New Yorkers who encounter homeless individuals at risk of hypothermia during the bitter cold are urged to call 311 to request assistance.
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