Snow storm closes schools in eastern half of upstate New York, knocks out power to 49,000

Storm closes schools, knocks out power across NY

ALBANY, N.Y. — Hundreds of schools across New York’s eastern half were closed, motorists endured accident-delayed commutes and almost 50,000 utility customers lost electricity Wednesday as the season’s first major storm socked the region with more than a half foot of snow.

The National Weather Service said up to 8 inches has fallen by Wednesday morning, with the highest totals in the Albany area, the Catskills and Orange County in the Hudson Valley.

Accidents shut down stretches of an interstate highway in Albany and numerous other mishaps caused traffic backups along the Thruway system, mostly involving vehicles that slid off the highway and got stuck in the snow, a dispatcher said.

“We have 600 miles of roadway and we have storms from Buffalo all the way to the New York City area,” said the Thruway Authority’s Jeremy Lefort.

There were no reports of serious injuries.

Utilities National Grid, NYSEG and Rochester Gas & Electric, a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, reported a total of about 49,000 power outages, most of them concentrated in western and central counties.

Thousands of students from the Syracuse area to New York City’s northern suburbs had a snow day or started classes two hours later than usual because of the snowy conditions.

Marc Timmons of Wilton in Saratoga County was shoveling his driveway after getting off work at a supermarket and didn’t mind the chore at all.

“I love to play in the snow”, said Timmons, a skier and Air Force veteran who spent years traveling around the world. He had advice for fellow New Yorkers who complain about the weather: “Man, move out of New York. The upstate region is not for you.”

In the Albany suburb of Guilderland, Robinson’s Hardware was already doing brisk business Wednesday morning on shovels and melting salts.

“It’s nonstop,” Will Healy said as he tended the register, snow blowing hard outside the window. “People wait to the last minute.”

Three or more feet of snow was expected to accumulate between Wednesday and Saturday in the mainly rural snow belts east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Parts of eastern New York, including higher elevations in the Catskills and Adirondacks, were expected to get between 6 and 10 inches Wednesday.

Eastern New York could expect the snow to turn to sleet, rain and possibly freezing rain later in the day, the weather service said.

Forecasters said much of upstate New York could get sustained winds of 40-plus mph with gusts approaching 60 mph Wednesday evening and into Thursday.

Frank Figliomeni, owner of Professor Java’s Coffee Sanctuary in suburban Albany, said the sloppy weather had not slowed down sales.

“I think it’s actually been a little busier than normal. This area’s pretty hearty,” Figliomeni said. “We get a lot of people who like this kind of weather, who thrive on it.”

Just north of New York City, overnight snow in Westchester County turned into a rainstorm by the Wednesday morning rush-hour. In Scarsdale, lighted Christmas stars swayed from light poles in the driving wind and rain.

“I saw a little snow this morning on my car. But by the time I woke up, it was raining,” said Tanya Yi, 19. “This is very hard rain, but I’m happy it’s not snow.”

Associated Press writers Jessica M. Pasko, Michael Hill and Rik Stevens in Albany, N.Y., and Jim Fitzgerald in Scarsdale, N.Y., contributed to this report.