FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow expected Wednesday night through Thursday may create hazardous travel conditions for Thursday AM and PM commutes
Heaviest snow expected Thursday morning; Total of 4-8 inches expected to fall by Thursday afternoon
March 4, 2015 — The New York City Office of Emergency Management today issued a hazardous travel advisory for Thursday, March 5, 2015. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens and a Winter Storm Watch for Manhattan and the Bronx from 7:00PM Wednesday evening through 7:00PM Thursday evening, March 5, 2015. Rain Wednesday evening will mix with or change to sleet and snow around midnight. The heaviest snow is expected early Thursday morning, with 2 to 4 inches of snow accumulation expected by the Thursday morning rush. The snow will taper off Thursday afternoon. A total of 4 to 8 inches of snow accumulation is expected with this event. High temperatures on Thursday are expected to be near 22 degrees, with wind chill values between 10 and 20 degrees. By Thursday evening, wind chill values will plummet to as low as 5 degrees below zero. New Yorkers are asked to use mass transit where possible. If you have to drive, exercise caution and allow for additional travel time during the Thursday morning and evening commutes, as roads will be dangerous due to the weather conditions.
Treating Icy Roadways and Snow Preparation
The NYC Department of Sanitation has issued a snow alert beginning 11:00PM Wednesday, March 4, 2015, and is pre-deploying 500 salt spreaders across the five boroughs to treat arterial highways, bus routes, school streets, hilly roads, etc. In addition, DSNY will have 1,600 plows available to address plowing needs once there are more than 2 inches of accumulation. PlowNYC will be available at NYC.gov/severeweather to track the progress of City plows. During major snow clearing operations, trash and recycling pickups will be either suspended or delayed.
The Department of Transportation will deploy anti-icing units to each of the East River bridges and is pre-treating pedestrian overpasses and step streets.
Parking
Alternate Side Parking rules are suspended Thursday, March 5, 2015 for Purim.
Safety Tips
More Information
New Yorkers are encouraged to sign up for Notify NYC, the City's free emergency notification system, for weather, traffic, and transportation updates. To sign up for Notify NYC, call 311, visit NYC.gov/notifynyc, or follow @NotifyNYC on Twitter. For more helpful winter weather tips, view NYC Emergency Management's winter weather video, visit NYC.gov/EmergencyManagement.
CONTACT: Nancy Silvestri/Omar Bourne (718) 422-4888