UPDATED: (Monday 10th) - MAJOR STORM - ROCHESTER

ONE FOOT OF SNOW IS COMING TO ROCHESTER. It's 11:30 Thursday night. I have just listened to all 3 local weather reports on the news. This is a brief summery of them...

There is a winter storm watch in effect from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Approximately 12 inches of snow is coming to Rochester. We will also have some frozen precipitation in the form of sleet and freezing rain. The snow fall total is difficult to predict because the more frozen precipitation, the less snow we will get. They think about a foot. N.W. Monroe county by the lake should get more snow. This storm is similar to the one we got around Feb. 27. This will be a prolonged event Starting Friday into Sunday. Saturday will be the worst day. Actually there are two snow storms in this time period. I have post the links to all 3 local stations below, but as of now they have not updated to reflect the latest forecast.

Local Weather Links
WHAM 13 Weather
Rochester Homepage.Net News 8
News 10 WHEC

Saturday 11:30 P.M. Update-

If you can stay at home please do so, the roads are treacherous. The official Rochester snowfall as of 5:00 p.m. is 9.1 inches at the airport, 8 to 20 inches across the area. Plus sleet, and freezing rain which makes for slippery road conditions. Winds gusts of 30 to 40 mph.with whiteouts add to the problem. Dozens of accidents have been reported, including 2 teens from Henrietta that died in a weather-related car crash.

The weather caused several cancellations at Rochester airport. We have had scattered power outages. Many local events have been canceled due to the weather. And the storm is not over. We are in the beginning of the next phase, or some say the next storm.

Rochester, and surrounding areas have been hit by all kinds of precipitation- hail, freezing rain, sleet, snow, even thunder, and lightning in the gates area. It just depends what area you live in. We either got hail, or freezing rain here. I could hear it pounding rapidly against the window. There are many weather alerts out, and they are changing all the time. It's best to click the links above for the latest. The worst of the storm is this evening into Sunday morning. According to WROC ch. 8 on T.V. we should get 5 to 8 inches MORE of snow in the Rochester area, 8 to10 inches more near the lake. The storm should taper off tomorrow, but it will be colder. Due to the wind there will be white outs making driving tricky tomorrow. Use extra caution.

When it's all over snow fall totals are expected to be 12-18" in the Rochester area. 18-24 N.W. near the lake, and 8-12 towards the finger lakes. That's according to WHEC news 10. Wow!

SUNDAY UPDATE: 15.7 inches is the official storm snowfall total at the Rochester airport. (Wolcott 15", Hamlin 21", Gaines 24"). Yes, it's over for now, but they say that another storm is coming Friday. UG!

STORM AFTEREFFECTS:
~16,000 in central and eastern N.Y. still without power. "Power has been restored to some areas. The situation is still bad." "Warming centers" are open.

~ Winter weather clean-up begins.

~ Students at Rush-Henrietta deal with loss of two classmates. Their deaths are thought to be related to the storm.

~ Tow truck driver encountered "quite a few accidents", ..."very, very, busy non stop."

Personal note- I've been very fortunate this winter. I have only had one power outage, and that lasted only a few hours. You might wonder why I'm so interested in storms. On March 3-4, 1999, Rochester had a blizzard. We had 24.3" of snow within 24 hours. It was the second greatest snowfall here within 24-hour period. The blizzard was not forecast. I went to work, and was snowed in at work for 36 hours. The facility was good to us, but I much rather have been home. It was no picnic.

cartoon credit

Rochester Weather: "Potential For Major Ice Storm" Plus- 1991 Ice Storm Anniversary

It's difficult to think of an ice storm now. Finally we have a gorgeous day today. The temperature is 60 degrees, sunny, spring is in the air...BUT! Tomorrow, (Tuesday), the temperature will plummet, and we may have a major ice storm. We could get more then half and inch of ice! On T.V. they said that it was not certain, so stay tuned. They also said to be prepared for power, or tree damage. Here is the weather report verbatim from WHEC news 10. You might want to click the link for the most current forecast.

"A winter storm watch is in effect from late Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday.

Low pressure lifting northeastward from the lower Mississippi valley will reach west Virginia by Tuesday evening. This will wrap warmer air over the cold air at ground level and a mixture of freezing rain and sleet will develop during Tuesday afternoon.

The mix of icy precipitation will spread over much of the watch area during late Tuesday afternoon and continue through Tuesday night before diminishing by noon Wednesday.

There cold be ice accumulations of more than a half an inch over the watch area with a significant sleet accumulation as well.

Stay tuned to News 10NBC for updates."

I will be sooo glad when Spring comes to Rochester to stay. We have had more then our share of mixed precipitation storms...ice, ice, and more ice. I'd rather have snow then ice. UG! The photo is of the famous ice storm of 1991 taken at the University of Rochester. Here are more photos of that storm. and more photos plus a first hand account. Ironically this upcoming ice storm will mark the anniversary of the ice storm we had in 1991. Thank God they are not expecting that much ice this time. What is with these major storms in March? I hope that this storm is a dud. Happy anniversary Rochester, and batten down the hatches!... Again!


"ice Strom - part 1" from YouTube (Day after the March 1991 Ice Strom in Rochester, NY)

Rochester, N.Y - More Storms - UNCLE!

We had another storm starting Tuesday into today. It was another mixed precipitation storm that left a coating of slippery ice over everything, with snow on top. We had about 4 to 8 inches of snow in the area. We still had ice patches over everything streets, side walks, and lawns from the last storm. Now we have more of it. During the last storm, it took me an half hour to dig my car out of the ice, and it broke my ice scraper. We have had more of our share of these crazy mixed precipitation storms. I heard on the television that another storm of the same type will arrive Sunday night into Monday. It might be a big one. OK, I'm officially sick of Winter. UNCLE! Enough is enough!

Wednesday wintry mix- tricky commute

Sidewalks impassable for wheelchairs

By the way that is not a photo of me. It is an online photo that looks a bit like me, and my poor ice encased car.

(UPDATED) National News - Accident 36 Car pile up in Rochester, NY

I was sleepy, and had just closed my eyes when I heard the name of my city on the National news. "Rochester, NY, 30 plus car pile up." My eyes opened wide, I went to the internet. I am reading about it now with tears in my eyes. You can read about the accident in the links. This is a terrible tragedy!

Roads, and side walks are still very icy with snow covering them from our last storm. We had high winds today, white outs. A very dangerous mix.

My heart goes out to my neighbors. My thoughts, and prayers will be with those injured, family's of the injured and dead, and the other survivors.

News Blowing Snow Blamed for Chain Reaction Accident

UPDATED ON FEB. 11 ...

Democrat & Chronicle: 1 dead, 24 injured in I-390 pileup

Rochester Video: 36-car accident on 390, one dead

CNN Video: Snow causes 36-car accident

In the mist of it all, a man warned others. Flagging down on-coming traffic, warning them of the disaster in front of them. A search is on to find this man.

390 accident good samaritan

Folks this is like a mini 9/11 to Rochester. Please pray for the family, survivors, and the 5 people still hospitalized. One has a broken neck, and is in critical condition.

390 Pileup Could've Been Worse but for Good Samaritan

Added 2/12 - They found the Good Samaritan. Thank you Christopher Playford of Irondequiot, N.Y.!

Five remain in hospital after 36-car pile-up on 390

City school student killed in car pile up 17 year old Le Ngo died. Le was an aspiring musician, a volunteer at Highland Hospital and a honor student.

Rochester Weather Alert: Dicey Night

Rochester, New York will get hit by the storm that caused tornadoes in the southeast. I heard this on the local news, but I can't find a good article on it online. They should have one in the updates as the storm progresses.

Rochester has enjoyed some warmer weather with rain in the last few days, which has melted most of the snow, and caused flooding. There is a flood warning in the area until 6:00 P.M. Thursday. Everything has been saturated with water, and today it all froze. We had a mixture of sleet, freezing rain, and rain today leaving up to one fourth inch of ice.

Tonight's forecast- Tonight: " Freezing rain and sleet causing slick travel will be followed by snow which will accumulate 1 to 3 inches near and south of the Thruway and 3-5 inches north of the Thruway. Low 27" This will leave up to one third inch more of ice topped with the snow.

On T.V., Kevin Williams Director of Meteorology said, that it is just short of an ice storm, but if we get bit more freezing rain, and sleet then expected, it could be a significant Storm. As it is the roads will be glazed over, and very slick. They expect that some of Rochester will lose electrical power.

Give yourself plenty of time in the morning for travel, and also watch your step. It was on the news that a local man is wearing spiked boots, and using a spiked walking stick to get around because it's sold ice in his area, sidewalks, and all!

WHEC 10: Weather Forecast

D & C Newspaper: Roads icy tonight, so beware

WHAM 13: Travel Advisory for Genesee, Livingston Counties

UPDATE- I just listened to the 11:00 weather report on the news. Looks like we will not have a major event. However, as mentioned before, the roads and sidewalks will be very slippery. The storm is still in progress. Traffic accident reports are coming in, indicating that most accidents are on expressway 390. Several hundred homes have lost power already. Please use caution when traveling!

Yet Another Storm In Rochester

Good golly miss molly! Rochester had another storm Friday. It wasn't as bad as the one on Wednesday. We had mixed precipitation, snow, rain, freezing rain, and sleet. It was just below freezing so it became a mixture of ice, and slush on the roads. Treacherous driving. Some power outages, but not so bad. Mostly the roads were affected. It still looks icy out now, so I am staying put unless called into work.

Troopers reported more than 200 accidents along the New York State Thruway . concentrated along the stretch between Syracuse and Kingston. Unfortunately 4 deaths occurred.

USA Today: 4 Killed as storm brings ice, snow to N.Y. state.

13Wham News: Icy Roads Mush Up/Delays at Airport

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Bing Crosby

Cold As Ice !

BRRR!