Warm Saturday leads to blustery, snowy Sunday for Capital Region

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

An inch of wet snow beautified woods along Morrow Road in the Town of Amsterdam Sunday morning as wintry weather arrived in the Capital Region.

Capital Region residents who got to wear shorts and T-shirts on Saturday woke up the next morning needing snow brushes and mittens.

After a recorded high of 64 degrees in Albany on Saturday, much of the region was hit with wintry conditions on Sunday. Certain towns saw close to a foot of snow, while others received just a dusting in the area’s second snowfall of the season.

In Schenectady County, Delanson received 4 inches of snow, while the city of Schenectady recorded only a half-inch, the National Weather Service reported. In neighboring Albany County, the town of Knox was hit with 7.2 inches, while Colonie had only 0.5 inches.

The difference in both cases was altitude — Delanson and Knox are substantially higher above sea level than Schenectady and Colonie.

In Saratoga County, Malta received 0.4 inches, according to reports from the National Weather Service, while 20 minutes up the road in Middle Grove, uphill like the other snowy areas, 6 inches fell.

The highest recorded snowfall in the region came in Rensselaer County, parts of which received as much as 15 inches as of late Sunday afternoon.

While the area’s first snowfall on Oct. 27 led to numerous traffic accidents and broken-down cars, most local police agencies said things were pretty quiet Sunday.

An officer with the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office attributed that partly to it being a Sunday, when fewer people are out and about and not a lot of commuters are rushing to get to work on time.

Over in Montgomery County, where 3.5 inches of snow fell in Amsterdam, an officer said certain parts of the county had relatively light snowfall, leading to only a couple calls on the day.

By mid-afternoon, the snow had stopped falling in much of the region, turning to rain in some areas and clearing up in others. However, weather advisories remained for much of the region, and additional snowfall was expected to continue through Monday in some places.

Wind advisories were issued Saturday for parts or all of Schenectady, Montgomery, Fulton, Schoharie, Albany and Saratoga counties. The National Weather Service forecast that between 7 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday, the Capital Region could expect another 2 to 4 inches of snow in some areas.

As a result of the ongoing winter weather, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday urged caution on the roadways due to expected poor conditions and he directed state agencies to deploy resources on the Thruway and elsewhere.

Reach Gazette reporter Brett Samuels at 395-3113, [email protected] or @Brett_Samuels27 on Twitter.