Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- New Year’s Eve revelers in Times Square will be “whipped in the face” by high winds and bitter cold temperatures as 2009 begins, a forecaster said.

Frigid air began descending on New York at mid-morning, and by 5 p.m., as winds pick up, people heading into the heart of Manhattan to start their celebrations “will certainly have to bundle up,” said Mike Pigott, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.com in State College, Pennsylvania.

“It is going to be cold, cold, cold,” Pigott said by telephone. “People getting in line at 3:00 to 4:00 this afternoon are going to get whipped in the face with high winds and gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour that make snow hurt.”

More than 1 million people are expected in Times Square to celebrate the New Year, according to a statement by the Times Square Alliance, co-sponsor of the annual event. Temperatures will drop to the teens tonight and the wind will make it feel closer to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 17.7 Celsius) at midnight, Pigott said.

The storm, which will bring as much as 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow in New York, is likely to cause airport delays as high winds sweep through New York, Philadelphia and Washington, Pigott said. Boston’s Logan International Airport may have to close; as much as 10 inches of snow is expected to fall there, he said.

Airport Delays

Weather and low visibility were delaying planes heading to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York by about 2 hours, while weather and wind made flights into Washington’s Dulles International Airport about an hour late, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Web site.

“The flight schedules are greatly reduced today, which probably helped the delays,” said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the New York City area’s three major airports. “They stopped a lot of flights because a lot of people don’t travel on New Year’s.”

Snow was falling at an inch an hour in southern New Hampshire and that intensity was possible in Boston later today, said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.

While Washington and Philadelphia will miss the snow, the National Weather Service issued a high-wind warning for as far south as Baltimore and the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia peninsula and as far north as Connecticut and Long Island. The warning calls for sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) with gusts as high as 58 mph.

Warnings Posted

The wind warning, along with a winter storm warning, extends into New England.

“It is important to take the proper precautions to secure any items that could become airborne in strong winds,” the weather service said. “These winds will be capable of knocking down trees, tree limbs and wires; driving will be difficult especially for high-profile vehicles and over bridges.”

The Arctic blast will bring a smile to Brian Fairbank, president and chief executive officer of Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock, Massachusetts, about 133 miles north- northeast of New York.

Many of Fairbank’s customers come from New York, Westchester County and Long Island, he said.

Welcome Snow

“For me, 2 inches of snow in Times Square is more welcome than a foot here” because it helps spur ski trips, Fairbank said by telephone. “Today it is snowing like a banshee; we probably picked up 5 inches so far and we’re going to end up with 8.”

In Vermont, winter sports conditions are the best they have been in years, said Stephen Wark, spokesman for Governor James Douglas, a Republican.

“The level of natural snow volume is really unlike any of the recent years in the past decade,” Wark said. “Cross- country skiing, alpine, snowshoeing, even ice-climbing, are all fantastic.”

Pigott said he expects wind and the snow may cause power failures as trees and debris bring down electrical lines.

New York’s suburbs in New Jersey and Long Island will receive about 1 to 3 inches of snow. Further north into Connecticut, 3 to 6 inches is likely, and New England into Boston will receive about 6 to 10, he said.

Another storm is expected to move through the region Jan. 2 that will leave a trace of snow in New York and as much as 3 inches in Boston.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 31, 2008 14:23 EST