Governor declares state of emergency for Jefferson, Lewis counties as more wind, snow expected in north country

Jan. 12—WATERTOWN — Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul declared a state of emergency for Jefferson and Lewis counties as another storm with high winds headed for the north country Friday night.

The weekend conditions follow Tuesday's severe weather that toppled trees and power lines and brought 78-mph gusts to Watertown. The new winds are forecast to give way to lake-effect snow through at least Sunday.

National Weather Service forecaster Dan P. Kelly said that the worst of the southeast winds was expected Friday night with gusts of up to 55 to 60 mph possible.

"Not quite as strong as what we saw earlier this week," he said.

Today a cold front is expected to pass through with slightly diminishing winds. Rain is expected, but as the day goes on the wind shifts to a southwest flow and the rain will change to snow.

The region can expect blowing and drifting snow through Sunday. During the overnight hours tonight the snow will begin to organize into a lake-effect band moving into Jefferson and northern Lewis counties.

On Sunday, the band shifts north into the St. Lawrence Valley before dropping back south Sunday night into Monday, the National Weather Service says.

Kelly said estimates total about 2 feet of snow on Tug Hill and about 18 inches in the Watertown area.

The worst of the snow is expected Sunday night into Monday.

"Travel will be very difficult," Kelly said.

The snow concerns the National Weather Service more than the wind, he said.

"With the lake effect you're getting some pretty good snowfall rates, but you're also getting some gusty winds in there, too, so that's going to make things really difficult," he said.

Kelly said they are expecting less damage then what was seen during Tuesday's storm.

"It's not quite as bad, but there still is a potential for trees, tree limbs to come down, especially with that windstorm that we had earlier in the week. It might have weakened some trees or power poles or something like that, so there is that possibility," he said.

National Grid's outage map showed there were about 40 customers in Jefferson County without power as of press time Friday. All Lewis County and St. Lawrence County customers were back online.

Those outages are down from nearly 30,000 in Jefferson County, 8,000 in St. Lawrence County and 3,000 in Lewis County on Wednesday and Thursday.

Jared Paventi, National Grid's strategic communications manager, said it's "too early to tell" if power outages will be as widespread as they were earlier this week.

"We don't know where this storm is going to hit, where the winds are going to hit worse, if we're going to get to those gust numbers. Cross your fingers we don't," he said. "We hope for the best, but expect the worst and we prepare for it."

Complicating the coming storm, many trees were compromised during Tuesday's intense wind.

"As winds come back in, there's a very strong likelihood that we are going to see more tree damage," Paventi said. "Tree damage means that those trees could come down, limbs could come down, hit wires, fall on other pieces of infrastructure and cause outages ... We're looking at the fact that people who lost power and are just getting it back in the last 24 hours are in striking distance of another storm where they could lose power again. We understand that that's incredibly frustrating. Just as frustrating for them as the customers as it is for us knowing that we're going to have crews going back out there fixing the same lines again."

Crews fixed more than 85 broken poles. It can take up to six hours to replace a single pole at times, the utility said.

There were dozens of transformers that had to be replaced along with major damage to lines and substations from fallen trees and tree limbs, National Grid reported.

"In addition to restoring power to more than 202,500 customers across upstate New York after this week's series of storms, National Grid has been closely monitoring the weather forecasts for the coming days," Matt Barnett, National Grid's vice president of electric operations for New York, said in a news release Friday. "We will have crews and personnel in place across our service area ready to respond to any impacts this weekend's storm may bring."

Crews are still in the north country, some from as far away as Florida, and were held from the last storm. About 2,000 National Grid employees are going to be available in Northern New York.

"We're prepared. We're just also anticipating the fact that we are going to face another challenging storm and the weather's not going to let up when we get out there to restore," Paventi said.

As for restoration, Paventi said heavy, wet snow sitting on wires provides "a challenge."

"It's not a challenge that's new. But it's the type of challenge that slows things down," he said. "It makes a longer day for the crews."

The utility is reminding people to keep flashlights and extra batteries; charge electronic devices; use caution when driving near first responders and crews; check on elderly family members or others who may need help; and operate generators outside to prevent carbon monoxide buildup.

National Grid urges caution when near downed power lines and says people should assume they are carrying electricity; don't touch a person who's in contact with a power line; use caution when near fallen trees because power lines could be stuck in them; and avoid contact with water near a downed power line.

National Grid customers can text REG to 64743 to receive personalized alerts when there is an outage, and they can text OUT to the same number to report an outage.

A high wind warning is in effect until 4 a.m. Sunday for Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties. The National Weather Service has also issued a winter storm warning for the same counties beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. Monday.