How Much Snow Will Winter Storm Hercules Dump? New York Might Get 6 To 10 Inches

The New Year doesn’t have to wait too long for the first snow of 2014. The Midwest and the Northeast should brace for Winter Storm Hercules. The Weather Channel said “Hercules” meets their criteria for naming a storm.

New York City will probably see six to 10 inches of snow starting on Wednesday night. The New York Post says that forecasters are calling the storm a “double whammy,” since a blistering cold spell will follow the snow storm.

Many forecasters are adamant that New York will get significant snowfall, but just how much falls on the city will depend on Hercules’s track. “We sort of like the six better than the 10,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Mark Paquette, as reported in the Post. “The 10 is more likely over Long Island and on east into Connecticut.”

The heaviest amounts of snow are expected to fall from noon to midnight on Thursday, and since temperatures will be well below freezing, there’s not much of a chance that it will melt before Sunday.

“It’s going to be right around freezing on Thursday but that’s going to feel mild compared with Friday,” Paquette said. So how cold will it be? Friday is going to be pretty brutal. When New Yorkers arise on Thursday the temperature will be around 14 degrees Fahrenheit, only hit a high of 16 degrees and then drop to a bone-chilling 5 degrees.

As if the snow and cold isn’t enough, the winds are expected to be pretty fierce too. The gusts, which can range from 15 to 30 miles an hour, will make it feel like below zero at times. “You get the snow, then you get the cold and the wind, making it really miserable,” Paquette said.

Fortunately the bitter cold won’t last for long. The temperature may hit a high of 37 degrees on Monday.

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