Winter storm warnings are in effect for Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties for Tuesday, Dec. 9 through Thursday, Dec. 11. Forecasts are calling for eight to 14 inches of snow, often accumulating at one to to inches per hour. The heavy snow is slated to begin on Tuesday afternoon and to last all day Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
There is also a winter weather advisory for sleet and freezing rain issued for Ulster County begining at midnight tonight and lasting through 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Sullivan West Central School District has already announced a two-hour delay for Wednesday, Dec. 10.
NYSEG has issued a press release warning that it expects possible power interruptions:
Emergency preparedness personnel at NYSEG, a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, are monitoring a storm that is likely to bring heavy snow and damaging wind to as much as the eastern one-third of the state.
“Our concerns are with heavy, wet snow and wind in our Brewster Division and the potential for significant heavy, wet snow in our Liberty, Oneonta, Mechanicville, Plattsburgh and Binghamton divisions. Both the wind and snow could damage trees that could then damage our facilities, resulting in power interruptions,” said Mark S. Lynch, president and CEO of NYSEG and RG&E. “We are always prepared to respond to power interruptions, but in a case like this our line crews, support personnel and call center are on heightened alert.”
According to Hudson Valley Weather's Facebook page, while the looming storm might turn into rain down in the Hudson Valley, snow is pretty much a given in the Catskills:
Precip in the form of snow and sleet will break out from South to North between midnight and 2am. Snow and sleet will make for slick travel tomorrow morning with light accumulations possible. During the morning hours warmer air will slowly erode the cold air out of the atmosphere and valley locations will turn over to a heavy wind swept rainfall. Areas in the Catskills above 1000ft will remain a heavy blowing snowfall with significant accumulations. Tomorrow night cold air will filter back into the region and we will see rain change back to a period of snow before tapering off with minimal accumulations possible. Wednesday we will see be under the influence of this storm with scattered light snow and rain possible. Some models show a second period of accumulating snow on Wednesday evening into the overnight as well. All said and done we may be measuring the snow with yard sticks in the Catskills and not even shoveling in the Valley.
