Maps show rain, snow for the commute home around NYC. See live radar as it starts.

NEW YORK -- A wintry mix of rain and snow is blowing into the New York City area, just in time for the Friday evening commute and the start of the holiday travel rush.

It's a First Alert Weather Day, and we're tracking a few potential impacts for your plans.

Timing out the weather today

The first thing will be the round of wet and wintry weather that moves in this afternoon. Clouds started to increase late in the morning, and snow was falling in Greenwich, Connecticut and other parts of the area by noon. 

There aren't any winter weather advisories for our area, but that does not mean this won't be an impactful event. We certainly think it will be, especially because so many people have travel plans later this afternoon and tonight.

The wintry mix will linger into Saturday morning, followed by the bitter cold. While it is colder now than it was yesterday, it's not as bad as it's going to be over the weekend.

New York City has declared a Cold Weather Alert and a Code Blue. Outreach teams will be going around the city to connect with people experiencing homelessness to try to get them to go into shelters. 

How much snow?

Not everyone will see an accumulating snow today, as some areas will see plain rain, but a light accumulation is likely by day's end north and west of New York City. Then, as the cold air takes over, everyone will have the opportunity to see a little snow tonight into tomorrow morning. 

When all is said and done, areas around the city and south and east will pick up a trace to 2 inches, while areas north and west will see anywhere from 2 to 5 inches. 

Weather this weekend

After that, it's all about the cold. Temperatures on Saturday will be around freezing early in the morning, but will hold steady or fall the remainder of the day. That said, it will never feel better than the 20s.

Tomorrow night will be frigid with widespread sub-zero and single digit wind chills. As for Sunday, it's likely the coldest day of the next few, with wind chills stuck in the teens.

Stick with our First Alert Weather team for the latest forecast, live radar and weather alerts.