NYC May See White Christmas, Storms Could Hurt Holiday Travel

New Yorkers dreaming of a white Christmas may first have to navigate a nightmarish winter storm set to hit the area on one of the busiest travel dates of the season.

Fox Weather meteorologist Christopher Tate said after an unusual start to the holiday week, with highs in the 40s and lows below freezing by Wednesday, the Northeast is set to be hammered by a winter storm that could continue into the holiday weekend.

It’s too early to tell how the storm will break, or how much snow will fall in the New York metro area.

One potential scenario is for a fast-moving winter weather system, which will lead to rain along the I-95 corridor by Thursday afternoon. The “exciting” conditions are expected to end Saturday afternoon, which is Christmas Eve, making Christmas Day dry, cool and calm, Tate said.

Upstate, in the Buffalo and Syracuse area, snow will begin by Friday and is expected through the weekend.

Another possibility is that a nor’easter is forecast to arrive in the Big Apple on Friday, which could bring a wintry mix — or even snow — through Christmas Day, Tate said. If this issue pans out, the amount of rain could lead to “really impactful snow — like the need for salt trucks at the DOT,” Tate said.

“Something’s going to happen and whatever the impact is, it’s going to impact Christmas travel,” Tate said.

AAA estimates 112.7 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, most by car, despite higher airline fares and increased demand for flights. The worst travel times are Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, the agency predicted, or the New York area could be hit by severe storms.

The last time the city had an official white Christmas when there was more than an inch of snow by 7 a.m. was in 2009, Tatt said. That year, residents woke to up to 2 inches of snow in Central Park, even though it didn’t snow that day.

On Saturday, residents across upstate New York and New England woke up to a nor’easter that dumped more than a foot of snow in many parts of the region and left tens of thousands without power, CNN reported.

More than 29,000 people in New York were without power as of Saturday afternoon, according to Poweroutage.us. Tens of thousands of others were in the dark throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.