Snow from a separate weather system is falling across the Catskills and much of northeastern Pennsylvania as a strengthening nor’easter begins to take hold along the Atlantic coast.
Light snow started earlier this morning, but the National Weather Service says conditions will steadily deteriorate through the day. The heaviest snowfall is expected to arrive around midnight and continue into Monday morning, when snowfall rates could intensify and visibility sharply decrease.
The National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Warning until 7 p.m. Monday for Sullivan and Ultser Counties in New York, joining Orange County and the rest of the lower Hudson Valley. In Pennsylvania, Pike and southern Wayne counties have been upgraded to a Blizzard Warning.
Winds gusting between 30 and 40 mph are also expected, raising concerns about blowing and drifting snow — especially in open areas and along higher ridgelines. Travel is likely to become increasingly hazardous overnight as snowfall rates pick up.
“While we do get plenty of these nor’easters that produce heavy snow and strong impacts, it’s been several years since we saw one of this magnitude across this large of a region in this very populated part of the country,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the service’s Weather Prediction Center.
Snell said the storm would arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington before stretching toward Philadelphia and New York City and reaching Boston in the evening.
While confidence remains high that this will be a significant winter storm for the region, forecasters note that small shifts in the storm’s track could still influence final snow totals in specific communities.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for 20 counties across New York, including several in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley.
The declaration allows state agencies to mobilize resources and coordinate emergency response ahead of what forecasters say could bring near-blizzard conditions to parts of eastern and southeastern New York.
Counties under the emergency order include Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess and Orange in the Mid-Hudson region.
Hochul said the state has activated members of the New York National Guard and pre-positioned equipment, including snowplows and utility crews, to assist local governments.