Sleet Alert 2025: Severe Ice Mix Threatens Travel—Timing, Maps & Safety Tips Inside

A potent winter storm is sweeping across the Great Lakes and Northeast today, pelting millions with sleet, snow and pockets of freezing rain that are turning roads into ice rinks and disrupting post-holiday travel. Governors in New York and New Jersey have declared states of emergency, urging drivers to stay off the roads as sleet bursts reduce visibility to near zero and rapidly coat untreated surfaces in glare ice. Meteorologists say the system’s warm layer aloft is deep enough to melt snowflakes into raindrops before they refreeze on the way down, creating pellets of sleet that bounce on contact and quickly accumulate in a slippery crust. The transition zone between pure snow to the north and plain rain to the south is riding right over the I-95 corridor, bringing an extended period of sleet from Philadelphia through New York City and into coastal New England. Key impacts today through tonight • Hazardous highways: Even modest sleet amounts—½ inch to 1 inch—are enough to cause spin-outs and jackknifed tractor-trailers. Transportation departments are pre-treating main arteries, but secondary roads will remain slick until temperatures climb above freezing Saturday. • Flight delays and cancellations: More than 2,000 flights have already been scrubbed at the region’s major hubs, with the worst disruptions at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia. Travelers should confirm status before heading to the airport. • Power outages: The heaviest sleet is falling in a narrow ribbon from central Pennsylvania into northern New Jersey, where ice accretions on power lines could reach 0.25″ by evening, triggering scattered outages. Utility crews are on standby to restore service quickly. Timing and totals • New York City: Sleet mixes with snow through late afternoon, switching to light freezing drizzle overnight. Total sleet/snow: 2–4″ equivalent. • Philadelphia: Up to ¾″ sleet, then a brief period of freezing rain before the changeover to plain rain pre-dawn Saturday. • Boston: Mostly snow at the outset, but a surge of milder air rides up the coast late tonight, introducing a sleet sandwich—snow this evening, sleet after midnight, and rain by daybreak. Totals 3–6″ snow with up to ½″ sleet. Detailed interactive maps from the National Weather Service show the evolving mix hour by hour. Travel and safety tips 1. Delay non-essential travel until roads are treated and temperatures rise. Black ice often lurks beneath a thin layer of sleet. 2. If you must drive, reduce speed dramatically, keep headlights on, and maintain triple the usual following distance. 3. Carry an emergency kit: blankets, phone charger, water and energy snacks. 4. Clear sleet off sidewalks quickly; once compressed, it hardens like concrete. 5. For homeowners using salt, opt for calcium chloride or magnesium chloride blends, which work in colder temperatures and are less damaging to concrete. What’s next? The storm races into Atlantic Canada tomorrow, and a reinforcing shot of Arctic air follows on its heels. Highs Sunday will struggle to reach the mid-20s from Albany to Baltimore, meaning any slushy mix left untreated will refreeze. Another clipper system could deliver fresh snow and, again, pockets of sleet on New Year’s Eve—something forecasters are monitoring closely. Bottom line Sleet may look innocuous compared to heavy snow, but its glass-bead pellets pack a punch, glazing everything they touch. If you’re in the path of today’s wintry cocktail, heed local advisories, give road crews room to work, and stay weather-aware as this dynamic storm unfolds.