Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Weather Update: We're Going To Need A Bigger Shovel
By
Joe Schumacher
Published Jan 23, 2016
Modified Jan 23, 2016
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 .
By
Joe Schumacher
Published Jan 23, 2016
Modified Jan 23, 2016
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
The National Weather Service keeps increasing the snow totals for this storm. The best guess now is that the city will get somewhere between 12 and 20 additional inches of snow before the storm departs tomorrow morning. That will put us within striking range of the record snowfall from a single storm, which is 26.9 inches back in February 2006. The Boxing Day storm of 2010 and the January 1996 blizzard dumped about 20 inches on the city.
Storm total snowfall (National Weather Service)
What's causing the enormous snowfall? To mangle Flannery O'Connor, everything that converges must rise. The nor'easter is pulling warm, humid air up from the tropics. The abnormally warm weather of past months have kept the waters of the Atlantic warmer than usual, which pumps more moisture into the air. When all that warm air hits the cold air over the land it's got nowhere to go but up. Rising air expands, cools, reaches saturation and then water vapor starts condensing out as ice crystals, which become the snowflakes we're seeing today. A reinforcing pull to that upward movement is coming from the jet stream above, where the air is diverging.
The convergence often gets organized into bands of heavier and lighter snow and that's what we are seeing today. One band of heavy snow slowly moved northward through the city this morning, and another is expected to slowly move through the city this afternoon and evening. It looks like heavy snow is possible until around 10 p.m. Lighter snow may fall for a few hours after that but the storm will be out of here by sunrise and sunny skies should return sometime tomorrow.
Tagged
Blizzard
blizzard 2016
snow
weather
original
Joe Schumacher
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
US judge tosses Trump lawsuit targeting pro-Palestinian protesters in NJ
The Justice Department sued demonstrators who protested at a synagogue, under a law aimed at shielding abortion clinics.
By
Willow Higgins
Published Oct 3, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET
A big, bright Saturn will be the highlight of NYC's fall stargazing season
Stargazers will have a great view of Saturn and two meteor showers in October.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
A big, bright Saturn will be the highlight of NYC's fall stargazing season
Stargazers will have a great view of Saturn and two meteor showers in October.
By
Rosemary Misdary
NYC tow companies busted for ripping off drivers must give $67K in refunds, city says
By
Liam Quigley
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
By
Ryan Kost
DOC negligence factored in death at Rikers' Bellevue hospital outpost, jail officials say
By
Brittany Kriegstein
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 .