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What to KnowAt this time, we can’t confidently pinpoint exactly where the heaviest snow will fall, but that picture will become clearer Thursday into Friday.The Northeast will get hit hardest Sunday afternoon and evening, with residual light snow Monday. Expect travel to remain very difficult Monday morning. Anticipate school, business, and government office closures as well. The Northeast will get hit hardest Sunday afternoon and evening, with residual light snow Monday. Be prepared for travel to remain very difficult Monday morning and expect school, business, and government office closures on Monday, too. A major winter storm will pummel much of the United States this weekend, starting in Texas and the Great Plains and finishing along the East Coast.  Here are five things the tri-state Area should know about the storm. More coverage Weather 11 hours ago How to prepare for the winter storm that is set to hit half of the U.S. this weekend Storm Team 4 17 hours ago How much snow will we get? Confidence grows in high-impact winter storm forecast Sunday is the impact day for the East Coast. The storm will develop over Texas on Saturday, but the East Coast won’t feel a direct impact until Sunday.  That’s when snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain will impact everyone from New England to the Southeast. In the Northeast, the biggest impact is likely to be from the New York City metro area to the south. Travel trouble starts Saturday. Weather on the East Coast will be quiet Saturday, but air travel will likely be a mess.  Snow and ice could grind airports to a halt in the middle of the country.  Hubs like Dallas/Fort Worth, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Cincinnati, and possibly Atlanta will be impacted, and the ripple effect will cause delays and cancellations across the country. Snow totals will be impressive for some. Once the storm makes it to the East Coast on Sunday, it will be a prolific snow-maker in certain regions – very possibly including the tri-state. Snow totals will depend on the track of the storm and the precipitation type.  Some areas will see all snow.  That’s where over a foot of snow will be easy to get. Other places may see a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain, which will significantly limit snow totals. At this time, we can’t confidently pinpoint exactly where the heaviest snow will fall, but that picture will become clearer Thursday into Friday. Ice could make travel treacherous South of the heavy snow area, we expect a band of sleet and freezing rain to set up, which will make travel a nightmare Sunday night into Monday morning.  As with the snow, it’s too early to call exactly where that band of ice will develop, but at this point, the I-95 corridor through South Jersey, the Delmarva Peninsula Washington D.C., Virginia and North Carolina are places to avoid Sunday and Monday. Further down the coast, we expect all rain due to warmer temperatures. Expect Monday to be a mess The Northeast will get hit hardest Sunday afternoon and evening, with residual light snow Monday.  Be prepared for travel to remain very difficult Monday morning and expect school, business, and government office closures on Monday, too. 

A May 2025 internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement document shows that the agency told officers and agents they can forcibly enter homes of people subject to deportation without a warrant signed by a judge. The memo, dated May 12 and which reads that it is from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, was shared with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., by two whistleblowers. It says that ICE agents are allowed to forcibly enter the home of a person using an administrative warrant if a judge has issued a “final order of removal.” Administrative warrants permit officers and agents to make arrests and are different from judicial warrants, which a judge or magistrate signs allowing entry into a home. Lyons notes in the document that detaining people “in their residences” based solely on administrative warrants is a change from past procedures. “Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose,” the memo reads. The memo says that agents may “arrest and detain aliens” in their place of residence who are subject to a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge, the Board of Immigration Appeals, or a U.S. district or magistrate judge. The memo says under general guidelines that officers and agents using a method called Form I-205 must “knock and announce” and that “in announcing, officers and agents must state their identity and purpose.” The Associated Press first reported on the document Wednesday. Immigration 8 hours ago Court lifts restrictions on immigration officers' tactics in Minnesota Trump Administration Jan 20 Trump's ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it Minnesota Jan 20 U.S. citizen says ICE took him from his Minnesota home in his underwear after warrantless search Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that immigrants in the country illegally who are served administrative warrants or I-205’s, which are removal or deportation warrants, “have had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.” “The officers issuing these administrative warrants also have found probable cause,” McLaughlin said. “For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement.” The group Whistleblower Aid, which is representing the whistleblowers who shared the memo with Congress, said, “This ‘policy’ flies in the face of longstanding federal law enforcement training material and policies, all rooted in constitutional assessments.” “In other words: the Form I-205 does not authorize ICE agents to enter a home,” the group said in a statement. “Training new recruits, many of whom have zero prior law enforcement training or experience, to seemingly disregard the Fourth Amendment, should be of grave concern to everyone.” Blumenthal said in a statement that the memo was “allegedly not widely distributed” despite being labeled “all-hands.” A copy of the memo shared with Congress is addressed to “All ICE Personnel.” “Instead, the disclosure claims that the memo was rolled out in a secretive manner in which some agents were verbally briefed while others were allowed to view it but not keep a copy,” Blumenthal said. “It was reportedly clear that anyone who openly spoke out against this new directive would be fired.” The memo is dated less than five months into the second term of President Donald Trump, who campaigned on mass deportations. Immigration crackdowns by the Trump administration against several Democrat-run cities have sparked protests and unrest,…

At least 100 cats were rescued from a Long Island home where animal welfare workers say the animals were living in deplorable conditions, many of them sick, malnourished and flea-infested. The Suffolk County SPCA said its team, along with other rescuers, removed at least 100 cats from the West Islip home, some found in cages and others roaming loose. The home has since been condemned, and the woman who lives there, 66-year-old Grace Etzelsberger, has been arrested on animal neglect charges. “This is horrible,” a rescuer can be heard saying in video captured during the operation. “It was absolutely disgusting,” said Frank Floridia, one of the rescuers who entered the home. “It was hard to breathe. The cats were living in their own feces.” Investigators said the cats suffered from a range of health issues including open sores, flea infestations and malnourishment. “They were hungry. Seeking human attention. Very sad,” said Floridia, of Strong Island Animal Rescue. Authorities believe Etzelsberger was running a cat breeding operation from her home. Her website indicated she was selling Maine Coon cats — a popular and expensive breed — for up to $4,000 each. “We knew they were breeders, but we didn’t know to the extent at which it was,” said a neighbor who added that he never noticed signs of trouble before the SPCA’s raid on Monday. “It was a little surprising.” Footage from inside the home showed disturbing images of the cats’ conditions. “Just right around their necks — all sores,” said Meredith Festa, one of the rescuers who has since helped care for the cats. Fest has taken in several of the cats, as she and others are working to nurse the animals back to health so they can eventually be adopted. “They’re so sweet and they deserve better than this,” Festa said. “And we’re gonna give it to them.” This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC New York. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC New York journalist edited the article for publication.

A major winter storm is set to sweep the nation this weekend, bringing snow, sleet, ice and sub-zero windchills from the southern Plains to the Northeast from Friday to Monday. While it’s still too early to predict snowfall totals for areas east of the Mississippi River, heavy snow is expected in Memphis, Nashville, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. Further west, 8 to 14 inches of snow is expected in Oklahoma City, 6 to 12 inches in Little Rock, Arkansas, and 5 to 10 inches in Amarillo, Texas. Simultaneously, a long-duration extreme cold event is likely to move in during and after the storm. Those who lose power might endure several days of below-freezing temperatures. Extreme Weather Jan 6, 2025 Take these steps to protect yourself from winter weather dangers In the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region, wind chills of 40 to 50 below zero are possible. In Texas and along the Gulf Coast, temperatures could feel like they are in the single digits, down to 10 below zero. More than 50 record lows are possible from Sunday to Tuesday, with Texas and southern states most at risk of record cold. Cities like Dallas could spend more than 48 hours below freezing, and cities like Chicago could see the same time frame with temperatures below 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The threat of a deep freeze jogs memories of a similar situation that unfolded in Texas in 2021, when a winter storm prompted freezing temperatures and days without electricity after generator facilities froze and demand for electricity overwhelmed the system. Deep freeze in the southern Plains The storm will get its start in the southern Plains on Friday, first wreaking havoc on Texas and Oklahoma before moving east with heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain that make travel unlikely to impossible. But perhaps the largest threat to the region is the freezing temperatures that will set in as the snow and ice melt. As of Tuesday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had already activated the state’s emergency response resources. The state’s department of transportation will pre-treat and then treat roads, and will help with traffic control. The Division of Emergency Management will provide maps of warming centers. The National Guard will be on call to assist stranded drivers, and a number of other departments will be available to clear snow, monitor utility providers and natural gas supplies, and monitor air and water quality. Abbott urged Texans to remain aware and check alerts before any necessary travel. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said on Facebook that it is monitoring the approaching cold weather and will keep Texans informed about power grid conditions. As of Wednesday, the agency said grid conditions are expected to be normal, but Texans can monitor changes through social media and through their app. Icy in the southeast The storm is set to expand across the South on Saturday, with ice storms continuing in Georgia and the Carolinas throughout the weekend. Wind chills will be as low as the single digits to -10 degrees Fahrenheit along the Gulf Coast, and many of these areas are at risk for pipe freezing, including Memphis and St. Louis. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein advised residents in a Tuesday post on X to get prepared now — especially in anticipation of power outages — by collecting necessities such as batteries, food, and drinks. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety said people should plan to stay home and off the roads all weekend, and urged people in the state to wrap up their preparations by Friday night before the worst of the storm hits. The North Carolina Department of Emergency Management suggested stocking emergency kits in case roads become impassable. “Items like flashlights, batteries, and battery backups can make all the difference,” the department said on Facebook. NCDPS added in an emailed statement that items such as gallon jugs of water, non-perishable foods, pet supplies and food, cell…