Hudson Valley faces fierce winter weather weekend as bitter cold, snow set to hit area
A bad bout of winter weather is on its way to the Hudson Valley, which will be hit with bitter cold and a strong dose of snow over the holiday weekend.
Extremely cold weather will chill the region from Friday night through Saturday night, followed by snow from Sunday night into Monday morning, which will create messy travel conditions on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
It's a fierce few days of true winter weather ahead. Here's what to know about the forecast.
Cold weather to chill New York
A wind chill warning or advisory will be in effect for most of the Hudson Valley from Friday night until Saturday afternoon.
Wind chills could be as low as 15 below zero in Orange, Putnam and northern Westchester counties from midnight until 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Those wind chills could be as low as 15 to 25 below zero in Dutchess, Ulster and Sullivan counties from 7 p.m. until noon Saturday.
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The weather service said temperatures on Saturday are expected to stay in the single digits then quickly fall back below zero overnight into Sunday. Those conditions could lead to pipes freezing. Exposed skin could result in frostbite in as little as 30 minutes with those wind chills, as well as hypothermia, according to the weather service.
Temperatures should approach 40 degrees Friday before plummeting to the single digits Friday night. Saturday's high will likely be just below 20 degrees, with Saturday night potentially bottoming out just below zero.
Snow to pile up in Hudson Valley
Saturday and Sunday should be mostly dry and sunny, with temperatures rebounding to around 30 degrees Sunday. Those clear skies will give way to a stretch of significant snowfall Sunday night and early Monday, though.
"Sunday night the weather goes downhill," said Tom Kines, a meteorologist for AccuWeather.
Snowfall could start as early as 6 p.m. Sunday and should be in full swing after midnight, he said.
The National Weather Service predicts about five to seven inches of snow in Dutchess, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties; four to five inches in Putnam, Rockland and northern Westchester; and two to three inches in southern Westchester.
Kines said parts of the Catskills could see as much as 10 inches.
"I think the worst of the storm is maybe midnight to 6 a.m.," he said. "I have no doubt, and this is especially as you head north and northwest, the morning commute for Monday is not going to be good."
Snow could taper off by the Monday morning rush, but it could be raining hard by then as the precipitation changes over, he said.
Warming centers
To seek refuge from the brutally cold weather, here are helpful resources about warming centers in these counties:
Matt Spillane covers breaking news throughout the Hudson Valley. Click here for his latest stories. Follow him on Twitter @MattSpillane. Check out our latest subscription offers here.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Snow, frigid cold weather to blast New York's Hudson Valley
