New Yorkers braced Sunday for a winter storm moving up the East Coast that could bring over a foot of snow to Manhattan.
Up to 13 inches of snow was projected by Monday morning in Manhattan and between 10 and 14 inches in suburban Long Island, National Weather Service meteorologist John Murray said. A storm warning was in effect until 6 p.m. Monday for the metropolitan region. Wind gusts could near 35 mph, he said.
“It’s a classic Nor’easter, that’s for sure,” Murray said.
The city will have 1,300 sanitation workers spreading salt and plowing streets by 7 p.m. Sunday, and more than 2,500 on duty on Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. More than 100,000 tons of salt will be on hand.
“It’s the first of March, which as you know is the month that we say comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” the mayor said Sunday. “It’s pretty clear that the lions are getting ready to roar.”
The storm was expected to travel up the Hudson Valley as it moved northeast. The weather service issued a storm warning for Dutchess County from 10 p.m. Sunday into Monday night, predicting winds up to 25 mph and eight to 16 inches of snow.
High winds were also forecast for the greater Albany area, with up to seven inches of snow overnight and Monday.
The storm was traveling north from the Southeast, where Alabama was first up for a rare white blanketing. Most roads there were clear, but snowfall totals ranging from 1 to 4 inches forced more than 210 churches in central Alabama to cancel morning services as a precaution.