Heavy Snow — Western Greene, New York

2010-03-13 to 2010-03-14 · Western Greene, New York

Event narrative

One man was found dead and another man rescued from Blackhead Mountain in the eastern Catskills Sunday night, March 14th.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system developed over the mid Atlantic region Friday night, March 12th, then moved very gradually northward to the Delmarva region over the weekend. A very strong low level jet developed to the north of the low and tapped abundant moisture. Easterly winds of 20 to 30 mph occurred, with gusts up to around 50 mph. The easterly winds enhanced the precipitation across the eastern Catskills and Taconics due to upslope effects. Precipitation totals from ranged from about a quarter of an inch, to around a half inch in the mid Hudson Valley, with up to 2 to 4 inches across higher terrain. The heavy rain, combined with snowmelt, resulted in widespread minor flooding of urban areas and small streams across Dutchess and Ulster counties.

Complicating the event, colder air drained southward into the region, resulting in a heavy snowfall across the higher terrain of the central and southeastern Catskills Saturday night into Sunday morning. Six to 12 inches of heavy wet snow accumulated above 1000 feet.

The strong and gusty winds led to numerous power outages, especially across the central and southeastern Catskills where the heavy wet snow fell.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 219748. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.