Winter storm bringing foot or more of snow to parts of Mid Hudson Valley

The second major winter storm to hit the region in two weeks brought at least a foot of snow to some of the more northern areas of the Mid Hudson Valley on Tuesday.

At least a few more inches might fall in some places before the snow tapers off Tuesday evening.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning that is in effect in Orange and Putnam counties until midnight, and 8 a.m. Wednesday in Dutchess, Sullivan and Ulster counties.

The weather service issued a less severe winter weather advisory for Rockland and Westchester counties, which is in effect until midnight. Those counties were expected to see less snow, and that has been borne out by some inch counts posted so far.

Ulster County is expected to see some of the highest snow totals, with one to two feet falling in some of the western parts of the county, and even three feet in some localized areas. Six to 12 inches of snow is expected in the eastern part of the county, the National Weather Service said.

Another 3 to six inches could fall in western Ulster County, and 1 to 3 inches in eastern Ulster County, before the snow tapers off Tuesday evening.

Sullivan County could see 8 to 18 inches in higher terrain and 5 to 8 inches in the lower terrain. Dutchess County could see up to a foot of snow, according to the weather service.

The weather service said an additional 5 to 8 inches of snow could fall in Orange and Putnam counties today, in addition to whatever fell overnight. Rockland and Westchester counties could see an additional 2 to 7 inches of snow today.

Winds could gust up to 35 to 45 mph in some areas.

A spokesman for the National Weather Service said this storm which moved up the coast is a nor'easter in the general sense, although technically the wind for this storm is coming from the northwest.

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Many schools canceled classes for the day Tuesday.

Putnam and Ulster counties declared states of emergency, which prohibited non-emergency travel. Many officials across the region urged residents to stay off the road if they did not have to travel., regardless of whether there was an emergency in effect where they live.

As of 11 a.m., Ulster County lifted its non-emergency travel ban, but advised drivers to continue to exercise caution on the roads, which were still slick.

There have been no serious crashes reported on the roads so far. One crash on the northbound Thruway between the Woodbury and Newburgh exits in Orange County overnight closed one lane for a time. No further details were available.

The four utility companies serving the region were reporting 14,468 homes and businesses without power as of 4 p.m. That is down by almost 4,000 from what they were reporting around 1:30 p.m.. Estimated restoration times for many of those outages, especially newly-reported outages, are still pending further evaluation of conditions.

Orange and Rockland Utilities estimates it will have power restored for 142 customers in Orange County and 16 customers in Sullivan County by 7 p.m. However, an estimated restoration time for 358 customers in Rockland County, who only lost their power since the 1:30 p.m. report, is still pending.

The Hudson and Harlem lines of the Metro-North Railroad were both reporting delayed service Tuesday morning.

Amtrak also reported that the storm was causing some cancellations and other service changes on its lines. No substitute service was available, the company said.

Newark Liberty International Airport, Westchester County Airport and Stewart International Airport were all reporting a handful of flight delays, but many arrivals and departures were still operating on time Tuesday. One Delta flight to Boston from Westchester was cancelled.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Snow and wind will hit Mid Hudson Valley throughout the day