Snowstorm leaves thousands without power
The week’s second winter storm left the region Saturday after burying mountainous areas in snowfall. But it also left thousands of people without power much of the day.
National Grid’s outage map showed more than 17,000 of its customers in the greater Capital Region were still impacted by power losses at about 9:30 a.m. That had fallen to between 10,000 and 11,000 by 3 p.m.
Major concentrations were in the Lake George, Schroon Lake and Washington County areas.
Despite widespread outages, the highly anticipated storm system mostly spared the immediate Capital Region from heavy snowfall for much of Friday, dropping 1 to 2 inches in the city of Albany and 2 to 5 inches in Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs after hours of steady precipitation.
Surrounding communities and rural areas saw greater accumulation.
About 2 feet buried high elevation areas of the Adirondacks, while Moriah, Newcomb, Piseco, Rensselaerville and Middleburgh saw 20 inches to 2 feet, according to a map from the National Weather Service.
Vermont saw the most significant snowfall, with Wilmington reporting 24.5 inches over the past 24 hours before being eclipsed by Landgrove, Vt. which saw 26 inches, the highest reported in the wider region.
Saturday had many breaks of sun, enabling residents to clear driveways and cars. Roads were relatively clear.
Those departing Friday evening from Albany International Airport may have also had travel plans derailed after a snowplow damaged a signal light on its main runway, prompting the airport’s closure at around 5 p.m. Doug Myers, airport director of public affairs, said. Airfield maintenance crews were able to clear snow from the alternate runway, which opened shortly before 6:30 p.m. to clear up the delay of a handful of departing flights.
Myers said the airport was fully operational by 9:50 p.m. after the light was replaced and the runway reopened.
All flights were back on schedule as of Saturday morning. Crews were investigating what could have caused the snowplow to collide with the light.
The storm that moved in overnight Thursday was the remnant of a massive storm system that pummeled much of the central U.S. as it moved east.
Partly or mostly sunny skies
with temperatures in the low and mid 30s can be expected for the next several days, the
weather service forecast shows. Rain and snow is likely Thursday.