44° F | Schenectady, NY
Second blast of snow continues in region
A last blast of winter blew through the Northeast on Tuesday, with snow and sleet delaying the start of school in some areas and making the morning commute an icy, slippery mess a day before spring starts.
More than 250 schools and businesses are closed or have delayed openings.
"We'll probably have a few more hours of snow," said meteorologist George Maglaras of the National Weather Service in Albany. "The last batch of snow is coming in and will last 2 to 4 hours. During early afternoon, this last batch will be tapering off." Maglaras said snowfall totals in the Capital Region are ranging from 3 to 5 inches and the forecast calls for another 1 to 3 inches. Some areas in northern Saratoga County have received close to 8 inches.
Schools from central New York to the Adirondacks and the Hudson Valley are closed or starting two hours late.
Capital District Transportation Authority buses are running on schedule today, according to the CDTA website. At Albany International Airport, some delays and cancellations have been reported. For more information on arrivals and departures, click here.
State police covering a four-county area east of the Hudson River say they've responded to more than 80 accidents and reports of disabled vehicles since the storm started around 6 p.m. Wednesday. Troopers are advising motorists to exercise caution as sleet and freezing rain falls in the Hudson Valley
At Ashburnham True Value Hardware, in north-central Massachusetts, employee Andrew Stanley said he hadn't noticed extra sales of shovels and salt, though the National Weather Service forecast 7 to 19 inches of a mix of snow and sleet. He did hear a little grumbling, though.
"Everybody's about sick of winter," he said Monday.
But some were welcoming the forecast, as the coming storm looked to extend the ski season. Just a year ago this week, local temperatures hit the 80s, prompting skiers in Maine to strip down to shorts and bikini tops and forcing an end to the season at many mountains.
At Sugarbush Resort in Vermont, communications manager Patrick Brown said more snow now could make spring the best time of year for many.
"Skiers like both of those things: great sunny warm days and lots of snow," Brown said.
The forecasts called for as much as 20 inches of snow in parts of northern New York and New England, with lesser amounts mixed with sleet further south. Boston and Providence, R.I., could each get 4-8 inches, and Hartford, Conn., 4-8 inches of snow and sleet. Portland, Maine, could get at least a foot of snow. Montpelier, Vt., was expecting at least 10 to 18 inches, and Concord, N.H., 7 to 13 inches. But those totals could go much higher if the storm continues into Tuesday night.
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