Strong Wind — Eastern Columbia, New York

2025-02-16 · Eastern Columbia, New York

Wider weather episode

A complex winter storm impacted eastern New York between February 15th and 16th, 2025 bringing snow, freezing rain, and strong winds. The greatest accumulations of snow fell at the highest elevations of the Southwest Adirondacks, Eastern Catskills, Helderbergs, and Taconics with a range of around 5 to 9 inches. Accumulations elsewhere ranged from about 1 to 4 inches. Most of the region also saw freezing rain, though the highest amounts of flat ice accreted within the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys as well as the Eastern Catskills. In these areas, generally around 0.15 to 0.35 inches of flat ice were reported. Elsewhere, anywhere from 0.05 to around 0.14 was common. At the event's conclusion, the total liquid equivalent across eastern New York from both snow and freezing rain ranged from about 0.9 to 1.2 inches. The combination of heavy wet snow, heavy ice, and gusty winds led to significant power outages across the region, in addition to numerous motor vehicle accidents, road closures, and subsequent travel delays.

Key Impacts: power outages, motor vehicle accidents, travel delays, road closures, county-based states of emergency.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1238729. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.