Nasty nor’easter headed toward Northeast, and a possible bomb cyclone

This storm could be the bomb.

A nasty nor’easter is headed our way, with a possible “bomb cyclone” in the making that could blanket the New York area with heavy snow this weekend, the National Weather Service warned Tuesday.

“Confidence is increasing that a significant winter storm will create considerable impacts Friday through the weekend from the Mid-Atlantic through the Northeast,” the NWS said on its website, adding that heavy snow was possible on the East Coast, including the I-95 metropolitan areas from New York City to Washington, D.C.

People walk through the snow in Manhattan. (Spencer Platt/)

Strong winds may whip snow around, making for hazardous travel in the region, the NWS added.

“It is still too early to provide specific outcomes (such as snowfall totals) for this storm,” the National Weather Service in Boston stated. “A lot can change between now and then. However, the potential exists for an impactful winter storm Friday night into Saturday.”

Though it was too early to launch a slew of warnings, the ingredients seemed to be in place for a potential bomb cyclone, in which a storm gains strength as it surges up the coast, triggering a dramatic air pressure drop. In this case, it could be exacerbated by abnormally warm water in the Gulf of Maine.

The farther northeast one goes, the more snow there could be, the NWS said. In New York City, the odds of snow are 60% for at least an inch, with lighter snow developing Friday night and getting heavier Saturday.

One of the last big snowmakers hit less than a year ago. On Feb 1, 2021, the city was pummeled by a nor’easter, with 17.2 inches of snow falling in Central Park. A 2003 storm buried the city with 20 inches, and a 2016 storm trumped even that, with a record-busting 27.5 inches registered, according to the National Weather Service.

The 2021 storm was the 16th-highest snowfall recorded for Central Park, Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the Daily News at that time.

There’s no guarantee this storm will be one for the ages, as National Weather Service noted Tuesday in a subsequent tweet. “Confidence” is not tantamount to actual formation, and the storm has only evolved in concept, and some ingredients.

“The NWS would like to emphasize this weekend storm will not even BEGIN to develop off the Carolinas for another 72 hours,” the agency said in a follow-up tweet.