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At least 5 years ago, New York City experienced more than a foot of snow in one storm. In January 2016, Central Park recorded its biggest snowstorm on record with 27.5 inches. The New York metro area or near is expected to see more than a foot of snow in the coming days. It won’t be just in New York, because most of the massively populated areas of the Northeast are expected to experience a walloping of heavy snow as a major nor’easter takes aim. Some cities may pick up more than half a season’s worth of snow in 24 hours. The Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York are a major nor’easter seems long overdue because most of these cities saw historically low amounts of snow during last winter. The Big Apple only measured 4.8 inches last season as its 4^th least snowy season on record.

Point to be noted that the least amount of snow ever recorded in New York City came in the 1972-73 season when the city experienced just 2.8 inches. The parent storm will eventually become a nor’easter, was still 3,000 miles away from the Northeast on Sunday. It was about to slam into the Pacific Northwest with heavy mountain snow in Washington state and Oregon. It will traverse the entire US before it reaches the East Coast, diving southeastward through the Rockies, dumping heavy snow in the mountains. The storm will bring only a light coating of snow to the Southern Plains around Oklahoma on Tuesday. But, the storm will start to crank again on Wednesday because of a shot in the arm of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

The snow will start to fly and increase in intensity and coverage early Wednesday morning as the Gulf moisture meets cold air sitting and waiting in Kentucky then it will move over the Appalachians. The Atlantic Ocean moisture will get infused into the system and heavy snow will break out in northern Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania once the storm jumps the mountains on Wednesday afternoon. It will reach Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City by early to mid-afternoon. The heaviest snow will fall along and just to the northwest of the I-95 corridor. From New York City to Boston and points northwest should be mainly a snowstorm. The heaviest snowfall rates will start on Wednesday into Thursday morning, with 2 inches per hour piling up in spots.