Mix of Icy Rain, Snow to Dog Tri-State for Next Few Days

The first of several rounds of freezing, wet weather expected to nag the tri-state area over the next few days, swirled into the region Tuesday afternoon, first pelting the area with snow before quickly changing over to icy rain and then plain rain that could continue to make travel treacherous across the region into Wednesday morning. 

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The quick-moving storm left behind up to 5 inches of snow north of the city that made roads slippery. The city and areas south saw 1 to 3 inches. r

Janice Huff’s evening forecast for Tuesday March 3.

The icy, slushy roads created a mess on highways and local roads, particularly on Long Island where crashes and spinouts were reported across Suffolk. Drivers in Westchester got caught in bumper-to-bumper parking lot conditions on roads like the I-287 and Westchester Avenue, and commuters in New Jersey inched along slushy, accident-filled roads like Route 80. Back roads were also iced over. 

Snow and icy rain made for dangerous travel on Long Island roads Tuesday night, as spinouts and crashes were reported across highways.

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The accumulation comes on top of lingering snow and slush from Sunday's storm that froze amid plummeting temperatures Tuesday.

Wednesday will see cloudy skies and light rain showers, with a slight warmup of temps into the mid-40s. Alternate side parking is suspended in New York City.

It'll get right back to the cold Thursday, with a high of about 28 degrees, and more snow will arrive, potentially mucking up commutes along the coasts of New York and New Jersey. Snow total forecasts are still uncertain: the RPM model shows very light snow for the city and then about 4 to 8 inches to the south; the American GFS model shows heavier snowfall, around 4 to 8 inches in and around the city, and up to 9 inches to the south. 

Friday will see a high of up to 30 degrees but will be sunny, and then the weekend should be clear with temperatures in the low to mid 40s. 

Less than a week into March, New York City has already seen 4.8 inches of snow, well above the average 3.6 inches that typically fall in Central Park for the month.

The snowiest March in the city was in 1896, when 30.5 inches fell in Central Park. The fifth snowiest March was in 1960, when 18.5 inches fell. Central Park would need to see another 14 inches this month to get March 2015 into the record books for the top five snowiest months of March, and with more snow on the way, the possibility is not out of the question, according to Storm Team 4.

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The city is already substantially ahead of its average snow totals for the winter season. On average, Storm Team 4 says 21.5 inches of snow fall in Central Park over the course of the winter. This winter, 33.2 inches have fallen.  

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