Winter Weather — Eastern Columbia, New York

2008-02-22 · Eastern Columbia, New York

Event narrative

A fatal crash occurred on Route 20 in New Lebanon, where a 40 year old woman lost control of her vehicle, and spun into the path of a Columbia County Department of Public Works snow plow.

The accident occurred around 1537 LST, and slippery road conditions from snow was believed to be a main contributing factor.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system tracked from the lower Ohio Valley east toward the Mid Atlantic coast during Friday, February 22nd, to a position off the New England coast by Saturday morning on February 23rd.

This storm system spread a swath of moderate to locally heavy snowfall across portions of east central New York and adjacent western New England, beginning Friday evening, and ending early Saturday morning on February 23rd.

Snowfall amounts ranged from 6 to 12 inches across portions of the mid Hudson Valley and central and southern Taconics, with generally 3 to 6 inches elsewhere.

This moderate to locally heavy snowfall created hazardous travel conditions Friday night into Saturday morning, and also led to the closings, or delayed openings of many businesses Saturday morning.

Hundreds of accidents were reported Friday afternoon and evening, with the highest concentration occurring within the mid Hudson Valley.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 81418. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.