Stock up on hot chocolate, warm gear and shovels before the weekend — because we’re not going to have a snow-free winter after all.

The city could be buried under almost a foot of snow by Saturday if the first major storm of the season slams into the Big Apple as predicted.

“If it reaches its full potential, it would be a bad storm,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines. “I don’t know if there would be 18 inches out of it, but I guess it could certainly be a foot.”

Snowflakes won’t start falling until at least the Friday-morning commute, but it could hold off until the wee hours of Saturday morning and continue throughout the day.

The storm would be the first significant snowfall this winter. The city didn’t even get a dusting on the ground with Sunday’s light flurries.

And if the system goes as forecast, it could be the first time since February 2014 that the city has a snow blast topping 12 inches.

While the storm could still change its path or weaken over the next few days, Kimes advised city residents to plan indoor weekend activities.

“If you had travel plans for Friday or Saturday, I would certainly be concerned,” Kines said.

Meanwhile, temperatures remained below freezing Monday, with the mercury getting up only to 29 degrees, before plunging into the teens overnight.

“Bartender at my favorite sushi spot is serving free hot tea as a reward for braving the NYC cold on MLK day,” tweeted @MLGPuckett.

“You know it’s cold in NYC when the steps in Duffy Square @TimesSquareNYC are nearly empty,” @adallos wrote along with a photo of just a few theatergoers braving the cold at the TKTS line.

It won’t get any better Tuesday, as high winds will make the concrete jungle feel like a subzero tundra.

By Wednesday, temperatures will creep up to 38 and will remain above 32 until Friday.

Last January, the city braced for what some predicted would be the Big Apple’s worst blizzard ever, but only about 5.5 inches of snow accumulated in Central Park.