Schools closed, power out as 1st round of storms brings heavy snow to NY, New England

1st round of storms blankets Northeast

ALBANY, N.Y. — A storm dropping rain and snow moved over the Northeast on Wednesday, closing hundreds of schools and knocking out power to more than 160,000 customers as forecasters warned it could linger over areas largely spared this winter from record snowfalls that socked other parts of the nation.

Nearly two feet of snow fell outside Albany, according to the National Weather Service, which expected another 2-4 inches to fall by the end of the day. Forecasters said Wednesday’s storm would be followed by another expected to start Thursday and dump a foot or more on some areas by Friday, accompanied by high winds. Meteorologists said some areas of New York’s Adirondack and Catskill mountains and Vermont’s Green Mountains could get as much as 2 feet by the weekend.

“The storm really isn’t going to go away quickly,” said meteorologist Hugh Johnson of the weather service’s Albany office. “It might sit and spin for a few days. It might not be until early next week that we get rid of the storm completely.”

The storm cut a swath from eastern Pennsylvania into northern New England, causing delays at airports from Philadelphia to Boston. Transportation officials in snow-weary Pennsylvania urged motorists to avoid unnecessary travel. The storm’s northern edge reached into the Massachusetts’ Berkshires, Vermont and New Hampshire, dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas and prompting flooding concerns in Maine.

In the South, the weather service issued a winter storm warning through Friday morning for mountainous areas of western North Carolina, where forecasters said up to 10 inches was possible by Thursday evening.

The storm began Tuesday and caused numerous accidents on New York interstate highways in the Hudson Valley, but state police said no serious injuries were reported.

The storm was blamed for at least three traffic deaths Tuesday, one on a road in upstate New York and two in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. An 89-year-old woman died in the New York crash, while a woman and a boy died when their vehicle slid off snow- and ice-covered Interstate 80, rolled over and hit a tree. The man driving the car was on life support and not expected to survive. Their identities weren’t immediately released.

The storm ended a long stretch without a major snowfall in eastern New York and northern New England. The region had avoided much of the severe weather that slammed the mid-Atlantic with several feet of snow in recent weeks.

In fact, some New England areas were forced to cancel winter festivals, dog sled races and snow sculpting events this year due to the lack of any snow at all.

Before Wednesday, the Albany area had received just 28 inches of snow, well below its average snowfall total of 46 inches for this time of year. Wednesday’s snow was particularly wet and thick.

Pat McDonough and her stepson spent more than a half hour shoveling the snow off their driveway and front walk in Voorheesville, a village just west of Albany.

“We tried the snowblower and it didn’t work,” McDonough said. “It keeps clogging up.”

Due to a forecast that calls for significant snowfall in the metropolitan region, many carriers have already begun canceling flights, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said on its Web site Wednesday.

Travelers were advised to check with their airline before departing for the airport.

New York’s power outages topped 135,000 Wednesday morning and were climbing as utility crews reached rural areas of the Hudson Valley and Catskills where up to 18 inches of snow had fallen. Another 32,000 outages were reported in Vermont and western Massachusetts. Schools were closed around eastern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts.

More snow is on the way for parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania still digging out from back-to-back blizzards earlier this month. As much as 6 inches was predicted over the central portion of New Jersey, and Philadelphia could get up to 8 inches by Thursday.

Contractor Jim Conde spent the morning plowing eight private roads outside Albany, getting stuck several times in the deep, compressed snow. With more on the way, he was likely to stay busy.

“That’s what scares me the most,” he said. “If we do get more, where are we going to put it?”

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Associated Press writer Michael Hill contributed from Albany, N.Y.