The National Weather Service in Buffalo reports excessive runoff and snowmelt continues today, although heavy rain has ended. Meteorologists say our area received 2 to 3 inches of rain this weekend. All that water is flooding some low-lying and poor drainage areas in urban and rural areas. A flood watch remains in effect until 10 pm tonight for portions of central and western New York.
Many rivers and small streams are out of their banks. Moderate flooding is reported by the National Weather Service from Tonawanda Creek in Batavia. The Genesee River is expected to crest slightly above flood stage late Sunday morning in Portageville, upstream from the dam in Letchworth State Park.
As of 11 am Sunday, R G and E reports 1,233 customers are without electric service following the storm. Most are in Irondequoit. Another 1,181 National Grid customers lost power in Riga and Sweden. National Grid is working to reconnect 2,899 customers in Genesee County, and 5,221 in Orleans County. NYSEG reports about 33 customers with no electricity in southern Livingston County, with even smaller outages in Steuben, Seneca, Ontario and Yates counties.
The National Weather Service reports much of the damage in Genesee County is to the north, with many tree branches and power lines down.
Rainfall of 1.12 inches yesterday in Buffalo set a record for the date that goes back to 1895. As of late morning Sunday, rainfall from this storm in our region was under two inches.
Monroe County
Spencerport 1.93”
Rochester 1.91”
Airport 1.16”
Livingston County
Dansville 1.29”
Avon 1.28”
Ontario County
Canandaigua 1.10”
Honeoye 1.26”
Geneva 1.25”
Orleans County
Lyndonville 1.97”
Wayne County
Newark 1.04
Walworth 1.02”
Macedon 0.95”
Wyoming County
Warsaw 1.63”
Silver Springs 1.35”
Portageville 1.21”
Red Cross Ready
The Red Cross tells WXXI it is in contact with emergency managers from each county and has volunteers and shelter locations on standby if needed. Spokesperson Jay Bonafede says the Red Cross did assist 12 people from three families with vouchers for shelter and food due to late afternoon and early morning flooding in the Seneca County village of Waterloo.
The Temperature Factor
Temperatures were a key in determining the impact of the freezing rain. Readings in northern New York were in the 20s and that region was glazed with up to two inches of ice accumulation. Western New York temperatures were around or above freezing, which limited ice accumulation. In southern New York, record high temperatures were reported in New York City, which reached 70 degrees early Sunday. Elmira, Binghamton and Wellsville were around 60 degrees.
The National Weather Service predicts colder weather will return to western New York this week along with the chance for lake effect snow showers east of the Great Lakes, perhaps in time for a dusting of snow Christmas Eve.
National Grid reported nearly 67,000 customers without power in New York on Sunday morning. Spokesman Steve Brady said that number likely will rise. The utility said earlier it could be Monday before service is restored to some customers.
Northern New York (Associated Press)
(Canton, NY) A winter storm bringing ice and whipping winds to upstate New York and northern Vermont knocked out power to thousands of customers as officials urged motorists to avoid traveling in dangerously slick conditions.
More than 95,000 utility customers woke up without power Sunday morning in New York, Vermont and Maine because of widespread ice accumulations.
In St. Lawrence County, almost 2 inches of ice had accumulated early Sunday, coating tree limbs and power lines, county dispatch operations supervisor Jim Chestnut said.
Winds were expected to pick up, increasing the chances of outage issues, but a state of emergency was keeping roads clear of hapless motorists, Chestnut said.
“Fortunately, there were not many accidents but mainly because people are staying off the road,'' added County Administrator Karen St. Hilaire.
Significant accumulations of ice were expected to continue into Sunday afternoon.
National Grid reported nearly 67,000 customers without power in New York on Sunday morning. Spokesman Steve Brady said that number likely will rise. The utility said earlier it could be Monday before service is restored to some customers.
Brady said bulk of the outages were along Lake Ontario, stretching from Niagara and Erie counties in the west to Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties in the north.
He said a light overnight staff restoring power had grown to full contingent by 5 a.m.