New York Today: Weekend Snow

James Estrin/The New York Times Prepare to sing “Let It Snow.”

Good morning on this Friday the 13th.

Guess what: It’s cold out. And we know you’ve heard this one before, but it’s going to snow tomorrow, quite a bit. They promise.

Today will be mostly gray with a high of 31 and a nasty wind gusting to 25 miles an hour.

Then tomorrow morning, the snow begins and falls all day â€" four to six inches in the city, more north and west.

To skeptics who recall Tuesday’s fizzle of a snowstorm, a weather service meteorologist, Mike Silva, said, “This storm looks like it’s going to be a more significant snow event.”

The snow will change to sleet and then rain overnight, at least in the city.

Then clearing and warming on Sunday. Perfect for a slushball fight.

Here’s what else you need to know for Friday and the weekend.

COMMUTE

Subways: Check latest status.

Rails: Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status.

Roads: Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

It is a Gridlock Alert Day.

Alternate-side parking is in effect.

COMING UP TODAY

- Mayor-elect de Blasio and 15 other new mayors talk with President Obama about urban issues at the White House.

- Mayor Bloomberg’s Friday morning radio spot on WOR-AM (710) at 8:05 a.m.

- The Democratic State Senate co-leader, Jeffrey Klein, unveils his billion-dollar “Affordable New York” proposal of housing aid and paid leave, at odds with the governor’s proposed tax cuts.

- Look up downtown: six F/A-18 Hornet combat jets will fly in formation over the Hudson, posing for photos featuring 1 World Trade Center. Around 1:15 p.m.

- Take in some late-night Motherwell collages at the Guggenheim’s “Art After Dark” program, which includes a bar and live music. 9 p.m. to midnight. [$18 admission]

- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.

HOLIDAY HARMONY

Snow notwithstanding, there’s music in the air. Listen:

- Tonight, serious musicians crouch over seriously baby grands as the UnCaged Toy Piano Festival begins at, where else, Pianos on the Lower East Side.

- Meanwhile, in Queens, actual children play appropriately sized orchestra instruments as the Corona Youth Music Project’s 150-student orchestra and chorus perform at the Queens Museum.

- On Saturday, a composer hands out cassettes of his twinkling electronic processional “Unsilent Night.” A march of boomboxes ensues, from Washington Square to Tompkins Square.

- For a prosier sort of Christmas music, writers read “A Christmas Carol” at Housing Works. (Will Adam Gopnik be Ebenezer Scrooge?)

- Carolers in their Victorian best croon by candlelight at a mansion in the Bronx.

- An a capella group doo-wops at BAMcafe in Brooklyn.

- And “Bark! The Herald Angels Sing” at Prospect Park. Yes, that’s a caroling session for dogs.

- Sunday offers a drum workshop for teens led by a globe-trotting session drummer.

- And for tuba and euphonium players, it’s TubaChristmas at Rockefeller Center.
Looking for subtler holiday sounds?

Head to Central Park for the annual Christmas Bird Count.

Close your eyes, and listen for owls.

Hoo, hoo, hoo, Merry Christmas!

Joseph Burgess and Andy Newman contributed reporting.

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