A nor’easter brought snow, strong wind gusts, and extreme cold to the city Thursday with moderate snowfall.

Today’s weather will be a mess, according to Meteorologist Mike Rizzo. 

Heavy snow is expected east of the city with lighter snow to the west. 

“We’re basically cut in half,” Rizzo says, “I expect snowfall totals to vary across the city.”
 

Areas to the west should be seeing 2 to 5 inches of snow with eastern zones expected to see 5 to 8. This comes with a minor western wiggle in the storm track that brings the storm’s higher water content closer to the city.

Snow-banding is expected to develop to bring squalls of moderate to heavy snow through the city, and accumulations will be quick if not immediate. The air temperatures will remain rather steady in the lower-to-mid 20's across the boroughs. 

This cold air also comes with frigid feel like temperatures due to the wind chills. 

Winds will be northerly all day at 15 to 25 mph. Gusts can reach 30 to 45 mph. Feel like temperatures can be in the upper single digits to the mid-teens. 
 

A concern for drifting snow is present, too. Drifting snow will make it hard to measure accurate totals, and some areas will see less versus more due to the appearance of drifting. 

Visibility will be reduced due to blowing snow and falling moderate-heavy snow. Near-blizzard conditions are possible. A blizzard is official when the following criteria is expected or met for at least 3 hours:
1.    Winds gust in excess of 35mph
2.    Visibility is reduced to ¼ mi due to blowing snow or heavy snowfall.

For now, New York City is under a winter storm warning, and blizzard warnings are issued for coastal areas south and east, closer to the storm’s center.
 

The storm’s closest approach will be through the late morning until about 1 p.m. 

By then, the storm begins to pull away leaving lighter snowfall for the afternoon. 

Accumulations by then will be negligible and difficult to measure given the gusty wind and the light intensity. 

The last flakes fly from the clouds near 5 p.m. 

Blowing snow will continue into the night where dangerously cold weather settles in behind this storm.

It will be painfully raw on Friday with morning wind chills as low as 10 to 15 degrees below zero. 

Hope for warmer weather is on the horizon as near normal temperatures are expected for Monday. Normal is 39 degrees.