NEW YORK (AP) - Snow, sleet, rain, wind and ice.
That sums up the forecast for New York City this weekend, with barely a few soggy inches of white stuff likely to fall before turning to rain by Sunday morning.
But the National Weather Service said on Saturday that a dramatic drop in temperatures could then turn the watery mess into treacherous ice before Monday, with brutal wind chill temperatures reaching below zero.
At airports in the path of the storm, most airlines waived fees for changes amid weather-forced cancellations or delays of thousands of flights.
In upstate New York, a light snow blanketed the Syracuse area on Saturday, with temperatures dropping to 12 degrees ahead of at least 18 inches forecast to fall by Sunday, accompanied by wind gusts topping 30 mph. The National Weather Service predicted that up to about 2 feet of snow could fall by late Sunday. Weather service meteorologist Mitchell Gaines said Saturday in a webinar for media that up to 3 inches of snow per hour could come down.
Most flights from and to Syracuse Hancock International Airport have been cancelled through Sunday morning.
Slippery roads and drifting snow are slowing traffic across the Northeast.
In New York City on Sunday morning, temperatures are expected to plunge from about 40 degrees to single digits in the evening, with wind gusts of up to 30 mph.
On Monday, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, meteorologists predict the sun will appear, but with high temperatures around only 15 and strong winds.
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