Winter Weather — Western Columbia, New York

2008-02-01 · Western Columbia, New York

Event narrative

A 39 year old woman died after her car slid off a road and hit a tree in Elizaville at approximately 1242 EST. She was driving southbound on Route 19 when she lost control of her car. Icy roads from freezing rain were believed to be a contributing factor in the accident.

In addition, 3 people were killed, while one was injured as the car they drove spun out of control on icy roads on Route 376 in East Fishkill Friday morning. Their car crossed into the opposite lane and was then struck by a Town of East Fishkill Highway Department sanding truck. One male, age 2, survived the crash, and was in stable condition at Westchester Medical Center.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system tracked northeast from the Ohio Valley into northern New England on Friday, February 1st, producing a significant mix of mainly sleet and freezing rain across portions of east central New York and adjacent western New England.

Precipitation began as a mix of snow and sleet Friday morning, before changing to sleet and freezing rain by early Friday afternoon. The precipitation then became mainly freezing rain, before changing to plain rain Friday evening.

Snow and sleet accumulations of 3 to 6 inches fell across portions of the southern Adirondacks, with amounts of 1 to 3 inches further south into the Lake George and Saratoga region, as well as across portions of the eastern Catskills, Schoharie Valley and Helderbergs.

In addition, ice accretion from freezing rain of one quarter, to one third of an inch fell across much of the Adirondacks, Mohawk Valley and the Lake George and Saratoga regions. This wintry mix led to hazardous travel conditions for the Friday evening commute, with numerous accidents reported. In addition, scattered power outages were reported due to downed limbs from ice accretion.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 81029. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.