Tuesday Snowstorm Threatens To Turn Commute Into 'Hot Mess'

In honor of the Westminster Dog Show and the impending snow storm, a Brussels Gryphon braves the flakes.

We have waited patiently through nearly three months of winter, and now The Weather will allegedly reward all that self-control with the first real snowstorm of 2019. (Yes, it snowed a little during that horrible cold snap, but it didn't stick so I'm not counting it.) The experts anticipate that flakes will fall beginning early Tuesday morning, and according to New York Metro Weather, that should turn your Tuesday commute into a "hot mess." Cold snow, hot mess, hell yes.

NOAA has issued a Winter Weather Advisory, to begin Tuesday at 6 a.m. and last until 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday. During this magical time, the boroughs can look forward to a possible accumulation of 2 to 4 inches, with a glaring downside: winds bellowing by at an unholy 35 mph. Will this catapult us into another squall situation? We should see all the necessary ingredients—bouts of snow tossed madly around by rollicking gusts—if not in precisely the right combination. I will hold out hope, but in any case, we'll always have the memories.

Almost certainly, however, we can count on a full snow response: whenever the sky threatens two or more inches of snow, the Sanitation Department and Notify NYC rocket into overdrive, rolling out all the spreaders and possibly even sending some to groove against the flow of traffic. (Or perhaps that was just an idea they tossed out one time, an early iteration of the full snow response.) Feast upon the promise of chaos my friends! Just look at our city officials, planning. Scheming.

AccuWeather suggests that most of that will cluster during the rush hours, with snow sprinkling us from 6 to 8 a.m., by which I really mean pelting us: "It's a heavy, wet snow," according to AccuWeather meteorologist Alyson Hoegg. "It's not going to be that fluffy, dry snow," and it will give way to sleet, everyone's favorite commuting surprise. Sleet may revert back to snow around 12 p.m., transitioning first to freezing then regular rain in the afternoon. Your day will be cold and damp, with temps climbing from the high 20s (RealFeel: low teens and tweens) to the mid-30s, which you will think are actually mid-20s. The Weather is tricksy like that.