Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Serious snow starts in NYC Friday — as much as 9 inches before we're done
By
Ryan Kost
Published Dec 26, 2025
Modified Dec 26, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Alex Potemkin / Getty Images
By
Ryan Kost
Published Dec 26, 2025
Modified Dec 26, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A rush of heavy snow is expected to hit the New York City area Friday night, bringing potentially hazardous travel conditions — and, in some areas, up to around 9 inches of accumulation before the storm moves on.
After a dry and cold day, snow is expected to begin falling shortly after sunset, with conditions deteriorating quickly, according to David Stark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“You’re going to start to see snow pick up between about 5 and 8 p.m.,” Stark said. “Then the intensity really increases as we get into the evening.”
From roughly 7 p.m. through about 1 a.m., parts of the city could see snowfall rates reaching 1 to 2 inches per hour at times, Stark said. That window poses the greatest risk for travel disruptions, particularly on untreated roads, he added.
City officials urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel heading into the evening. NYC Emergency Management issued a travel advisory ahead of the storm, warning that hazardous road conditions could develop quickly during the evening and overnight hours. The city’s Department of Sanitation said it had pretreated roadways and would have thousands of workers and plows deployed as snow intensifies.
“The most important thing is letting [the Department of Sanitation] do its job,” Christina Farrell, first deputy commissioner of the NYC Emergency Management, told Gothamist. “They are fully staffed, they're pre-treating roads. They'll plow as soon as it gets to 2 inches. But the less people that are on the road, the better it is for Sanitation to get their trucks to go through.”
New Yorkers can track the progress of the sanitation department's snow removal vehicles at nyc.gov/PlowNYC.
By early Saturday morning, snowfall is expected to taper off to lighter accumulations. The storm should largely be over by mid-morning Saturday.
Property owners are required to clear their own sidewalks, and pushing snow into streets or bike lanes is prohibited. If the snow stops falling between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., the city requires property owners to clear sidewalks within four hours. If it stops between 5 and 9 p.m., they have up to 14 hours. And if it stops between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., they have to clear sidewalks by 11 a.m.
Property owners who fail to clear snow could be fined $100 for the first offense, $150 for a second offense and $250 for the third offense, according to the city.
Total snowfall across the region is forecast to range from about 5 to 9 inches, Stark said. This will be a much snowier December than last year, when the National Weather Service recorded just 2.8 inches at Central Park for the full month, and 12.9 all season. This will likely be the most snow the New York area has seen since January 2022, according to the NWS.
Cold temperatures will help accumulation. Temperatures hovered around 20 degrees early Friday and are expected to top out just around freezing before falling back into the mid-to-upper 20s once snow begins, Stark said. Those conditions increase the likelihood of snow-covered and slippery roads, especially overnight.
Air travel is likely to be affected. While airlines ultimately determine delays and cancellations, Stark said the combination of heavy snowfall and cold temperatures Friday night is likely to cause disruptions at area airports.
Farrell urged New Yorkers to check on their neighbors, “especially if you have seniors or people with disabilities — take a little extra to make sure they're OK.”
Still, the snow’s impact should be short-lived.
Conditions will gradually improve Saturday afternoon, with some melting possible if temperatures get above freezing. By Sunday night, a new storm system should bring rain to the area and temperatures into the 40s by Monday morning.
That warmer, wetter weather is expected to wash away much of the remaining snow before the start of the work week, Stark said.
— Elizabeth Shwe contributed to this story. This story has been updated with more information.
Tagged
new jersey
new york city
new york state
weather
Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .