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Syracuse, NY – A powerful storm system that brought brutal cold and dangerous ice to the southern half of the United States will hit upstate New York today and Tuesday.
Up to a foot of snow can fall in a wide range of Upstate, accompanied in some areas by hail or freezing rain. Winter storm warnings are in effect across most of New York State, from Buffalo to Adirondacks, from late this morning until Tuesday afternoon.
Roads can get slippery and sparse power outages can occur, especially after the storm hits tonight and Tuesday morning.
“Traveling can be very difficult,” said the National Meteorological Service. “Dangerous conditions can affect Tuesday’s commute.”
Snow is expected in two rounds: The first, starting this morning and continuing throughout the day, will be light snow. In the late afternoon, there will be a lull in the snow before the second, heavier batch falls over night, perhaps mixing with hail and freezing rain. In areas where slightly warmer air creates more hail and freezing rain, snowfall totals may be less than predicted.
This storm system churned across the southwest during the weekend, alerting for Texas wind cooling alerts and coating roads with a layer of smooth ice. Each of the state’s 254 counties is under winter storm warnings and more than 1 million customers are without power. In Alabama, 28 counties are in a state of emergency because the storm hit there today.
The storm’s southernmost trail means it will take moisture from the Gulf of Mexico as it slides north along the Appalachian Mountains towards New York. The combination of snow and hail will bring about an inch of precipitation, just like torrential rain.
There is another system on the way to reach upstate on Thursday and Friday, too, with a similar mix of snow and freezing rain. Meteorologists are still defining their predictions about the storm. Lake-effect snow can occur on the weekend before we have another break – and possibly another storm early next week.
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