Winter weather advisory: Snow, then ice will slow evening commute

Amy Neff Roth, Observer-Dispatch
·2 min read

A winter weather advisory through 10 a.m. Thursday predicts heavy snow followed by sleet and freezing rain for Central New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, including Oneida County.

Driving conditions will probably be at their worst during Wednesday’s evening commute, said meteorologist Ted Champney with the National Weather Service in Binghamton. “At that point, it could be snowing half an inch an hour,” he said. “Some of the roads, probably the secondary roads will be tough to keep up with. You won’t be able to go full speed.”

A snow plow is put to work on Genesee Street in downtown Utica on Friday, December 16, 2022.
A snow plow is put to work on Genesee Street in downtown Utica on Friday, December 16, 2022.

But overall, the roads will be tricky, but not as bad as they could have been, Champney said. “The ice won’t be terrible because it’s going to snow first,” he said. “The roads are going to be probably slushy because of all the snow. And then it turns to sleet and freezing rain tonight.”

The forecast calls for three to six inches of snow this afternoon and early this evening before the ice begins. Between 1/10 and 1/5 of an inch of ice is expected to fall.

Originally the advisory ran until 4 p.m. Thursday, but a warm front is now predicted to move temperatures above freezing Thursday afternoon, Champney said. “There still may be a little bit of snow,” he added. “We’ve got sleet in the forecast for tomorrow during the day, maybe a little bit of freezing rain for Northern Oneida (County) toward the Tug Hill region.

Meet your 'PreZoodent':Utica Zoo names winner of animal presidential campaign

New York:Advocates fight for state funds dedicated to transgender health access

“But we’re not looking at a whole lot of anything tomorrow. It’s just going to be a couple hundredths of an inch.”

Then the winds will pick up late Thursday night into Friday to between 15 and 25 miles per hour with higher gusts. And lake effect snow showers could bring about an inch, Champney said. The low on Friday night will be in the single digits, he said, although temperatures will warm up into the 30s on Sunday and Monday.

But another storm with mixed precipitation could hit, he warned, on Monday afternoon into Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Mohawk Valley weather: Snow, then ice will slow evening commute