Syracuse, NY – As we look at 2020 finally back in the rearview mirror, we’ll have to keep our eyes on the road for a messy mix of ice and snow on New Year’s Day.
Oh, and a snowstorm on Sunday night.
“How is 2021 going to start at CNY?” tweeted meteorologist Jill Reale, from WKTV in Utica. “With freezing rain and frost on Friday night and the potential for a winter storm on Sunday. Fun times. “
Almost in upstate New York, there is likely to be some combination of sleet, snow and freezing rain on Friday afternoon and evening, which will make roads treacherous overnight and into Saturday morning. Winter weather alerts are available from Buffalo to the Hudson Valley starting on Friday afternoon.
“The new year starts with a bang,” said the National Weather Service’s Binghamton office. “Snow and hail will develop early in the evening on New Year’s Day, before changing to a mixture of freezing rain and hail – and then, eventually, freezing rain at the end of the night.
“The trip will become very dangerous, especially on New Year’s Day at night and during the night and in the early hours of the morning on Saturday.”
As temperatures heat up on Saturday, precipitation will change to just rain. In Catskills and areas east of I-81, this may not happen until late afternoon.
If that is not enough, meteorologists are looking at a second strong weather system that could bring “significant snow” from Sunday night to Monday. The details are not clear now.
The interior of the state of New York may have a mixture of hail and snow, with a thin but slippery layer of ice on New Year’s Eve. This map shows the estimated thickness of the ice.