A mild but persistent snowstorm passed through the area overnight and into this morning. Snowfall is expected to taper off as we head into the afternoon.
If you're viewing this on The Batavian app, click here to view the video on thebatavian.com.
There is a winter weather advisory in effect until 1 a.m. and weather radar indicates a winter storm is going to continue to pass right over Genesee Count for a while yet.
Lake effect snow of 1 to 3 inches is expected.
I just drove from Bergen to Batavia on Route 33, rarely going faster than 15 mph, often in zero-visibility circumstances. Roads are covered in snow and snow drifts are developing on some roadways.
There have been a number of minor accidents reported this evening.
Due to inclement weather, all classes today -- Wednesday, Feb. 13 -- are cancelled at Blue Pearl Yoga.
Classes will resume and the studio will reopen on Thursday, Feb. 14.
A hazardous weather outlook is in effect for Genesee County tonight and a wind advisory is in effect from 1 a.m. through 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service says winds will be from the west at 25 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 57 mph, making driving difficult and possibly resulting in minor property damage. Homeowners should secure personal property.
Mixed precipitation is forecast with additional snow and sleet accumulations of an inch or less. Expect snow and/or ice covered, slippery roads and reduced visibility.
As part of National Grid's preparations, the company is postponing a planned power outage in a portion of Batavia on Friday night and early Saturday morning, said spokesman David Bertola. Assuming the forecast holds, the outage, which will affect about 600 customers along the West Main Street corridor, will take place Feb. 15 and 16. Bertola said based on the forecast, National Grid's personnel will be deployed to storm coverage.
Press release:
With strong winds carrying gusts of up to 60 mph in the forecast for Western New York, National Grid is increasing its evening and overnight staffing and will have line crews report for duty earlier than normal tomorrow morning. The company is prepared for the upcoming weather and provides the following safety tips so customers can be prepared as well.
Electricity & Generator Safety
- If a power outage occurs, customers can notify National Grid online to expedite restoration.
- Never touch downed power lines; always assume they are carrying live electricity.
- Downed lines should be immediately reported to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 or to your local emergency response organization.
- Generators used to supply power during an outage must be operated outdoors to prevent the buildup of deadly carbon monoxide. Before operating a generator, be sure to disconnect from National Grid’s system by shutting off the main breaker, located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could endanger our crews and your neighbors.
- Customers who depend on electrically powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should register as a life support customer by calling National Grid at 1-800-642- 4272. (In a medical emergency, always dial 9-1-1.)
- Keep a number of working flashlights and an extra supply of batteries in your home and be sure to charge all electronic devices.
- Please drive carefully and use caution when driving near any crews working to restore power.
- Be sure to check on elderly family members, neighbors and others who may need assistance during an outage.
- Click here for a video of National Grid’s storm preparation and restoration process.
There is a high-wind warning in effect from midnight tonight until 5 p.m., Friday.
Winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 60 mph are expected.
This could lead to downed trees and power outages. Travel for high-profile vehicles will be difficult.
The winter weather advisory for freezing rain remains in effect until noon today.
A flood watch is in effect through Friday.
UPDATE 10:51 a.m.: The freezing rain advisory has been extended to 3 p.m.
Kris Kramer shared this picture from last night at Oakfield-Alabama High School of ice on the trees in the traffic circle after girls basketball last night.
Below, a picture from Chelsea DIbble of ice on a road sign in Indian Falls this morning.
Icy covered trees throughout the region today, including behind the Upton Monument at Main and Ellicott in Batavia.
There's a weather advisory for tonight. Expect more ice through the morning.
Our very own marketing expert and graphic artist Lisa Ace, who lives in Batavia, sent us this photo of her backyard table this afternoon, festooned with a skirt of icicles.
With today's freezing rain, emergency responders were busy countywide with reports of frozen trees and wires down, and vehicles off the roadway. Fortunately, no serious injuries reported thus far.
Reports are coming in of roads becoming slick and town and county salt trucks are being deployed throughout the county.
There is a weather advisory in effect for freezing rain with accumulations of four-tenths of an inch through the course of the day.
Power outages and tree damage from ice are possible.
The National Weather Service warns travel could be difficult, especially during the evening commute.
UPDATE 10:20 a.m.: With some minor accidents reported earlier, a dispatcher reports there are multiple-accidents pending, including one on the Thruway (no injuries) with a car into the trees.
Nancy Clark shared these photos with us of an ice jam and ice overflow on Black Creek near Walkers Corner Road in Byron from this morning.
Here's a short video tour of the weather Thursday afternoon in Pembroke and Darien.
Send closings to howard@thebatavian.com.
Press release:
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Genesee County Highway Department and Emergency Management Services, has canceled the travel advisory for all of Genesee County as of 5 p.m., Jan. 31.
Motorists are encouraged to continue to drive with caution due to present blowing and drifting snow accumulation on roads and sub-zero wind chill temperatures.
Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Yaeger said the state of emergency has also been canceled.
We can confirm, there is a lot of blowing and drifting snow and low visbility at times on county grounds. Photos and video coming, hopefully later tonight.
A winter storm warning and wind chill advisory remain in effect for Genesee County until 7 p.m., with the wind chill advisory in effect until 7 a.m., Friday.
Up to three inches of lake effect snow is possible today before 7 p.m.
A travel advisory and state of emergency remain in effect for Genesee County.
Press release:
With the arrival of frigid temperatures and a number of structure fires across the State recently resulting from homeowners utilizing open flames to thaw frozen pipes, City of Batavia Fire Chief Stefano Napolitano reminds all City residents to be mindful and take the following precautions.
OPEN FAUCETS
Prior to thawing a frozen pipe, open any faucet connected to the frozen pipe. Opening faucets with frozen pipes is important for two reasons. Frozen pipes will most likely burst from built-up pressure and not from the expanding ice. The opening of a faucet can relieve the pressure. Secondly, upon thawing frozen pipes, steam will be generated and can lead to increasing pressure and bursting if it is unable to escape out of the open faucet.DO NOT USE OPEN FLAMES
Under no circumstances do not use open flames in any attempt to thaw pipes. The use of matches, a blowtorch or any other method with an open flame will compound the situation rather than solve it.
UTILIZE A GFCI OUTLET
Depending upon the thawing method used, please ensure that any device such as a hair dryer, heat gun or heat tape is connected to a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlet. These outlets automatically monitor the current and are designed to protect people from electrical shock. The occurrence of electrocution is more significant during thawing situations due to the tools being electrical in nature and operating near potential water sources.
Chief Napolitano states that following these precautions and enlisting the services of a plumbing expert will safeguard your family and home from the devastation of a fire. He also offers all City residents to contact the City of Batavia Fire Department with any questions they may have regarding the safe thawing frozen pipes.
The phone number for City Fire Headquarters is 585-345-6375.
While a travel ban related to yesterday's blizzard-like conditions was lifted last night, this morning a travel advisory remains in effect and is expected to remain in place until 7 p.m.
A winter storm warning is in place until 7 p.m. though the current forecast doesn't show much snow for Batavia today. That, of course, could change.
The photo above from a reader is of a truck rollover accident at Lewiston and South Main in Oakfield that occured around 10:30 p.m. The road is still closed but should reopen soon. The truck was carrying 80,000 pounds of blueberries. Complicating the effort to get it up right were the powerlines overhead. National Grid installed a new utility pole at that location overnight.
Updates on closings (for our prior post on closings, click here):
Send closings and cancelations to howard@thebataivan.com.
UPDATE 9:01 a.m.: We just spoke with Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator. He said the forecasters with the National Weather Service say they expect a lake effect snow band that is currently south of Genesee County to shift north sometime this morning. The band should stay south of the Thruway. This could mean more snow and wind for Batavia, and if the shift does occur, certainly for the southwestern part of the county. He said, "they used words like two-thirds of the county" could be hit by the band. "It's sunny now but we don't want anybody to get lulled into the idea that the storm is past," Yaeger said. The travel advisory and state of emergency remain in effect. He said county officials will reevaluate the situtation around noon.
UPDATE 9:35 p.m.: There's a report of drivers stuck at the Flying J getting agitated. Drivers are reportedly yelling at each other.
Press release:
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Genesee County Highway Department and Emergency Management Services, has issued a travel advisory for all of Genesee County. Motorists are encouraged to avoid all unnecessary travel due to the significant accumulation of snow combined with strong winds and sub-zero wind chill temperatures and zero visibility at times.
Advisory is in effect from 9 p.m., Jan. 30, until further notice.
Sheriff Sheron reminds motorists that dark traffic signals that are not working are to be treated as a four-way stop.
This video was shot around the one o'clock hour.
App Users: Click here to view the video on TheBatavian.com.
In order to enact a travel ban today, Bob Bausch, chairman of the Genesee County Legislature, signed a letter at 2 p.m. today declaring a state of emergency and that state of emergency is expected to be in place through tomorrow.
The travel ban could be lifted this evening, though, said Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator.
"It was busy," Yaeger said. "It came in fairly quickly around noonish and started hitting very quickly. It has started to subside a little bit. Now, it's quieted down quite a bit. We're expecting the lake effect to move south but then reenter back into Genesee County tomorrow during the day."
Besides enabling the sheriff to declare a state of emergency, it gives county officials additional power, though Yaeger said there's no plans to, say, impose a curfew or ban alcohol sales. The county has also not used the state of emergency to ask for assistance from other counties or the state.
"We're continuing to monitor it at the point that we checked with our highway department superintendent and he's checking with the municipalities," Yaeger said. "But because the amount of snow at this point is manageable, we're going to continue to manage that. But that option is always open but at this point (no assistance) is needed."
Even as the snowfall slows down, the county remains on a ready footing. Each county fire department has personnel at their fire halls, City fire has extra personnel on duty, and the local law enforcement agencies have extra officers on patrol.
The Emergency Management Center is operating as a command center but Yaeger said it is at a "level 3" standard of operation.
"We are open and active and we're monitoring the weather and monitoring phone calls that are coming in the different situations so we have good situational awareness of what's going on in the county, so we can react to any of needs that may come up," Yaeger said.
The travel ban serves two primary purposes, Yaeger explained. It helps keep the public safe but it also helps keep first responders safe.
"The weather is our concern with the public out there," Yaeger said, "then the first responders trying to do their their work, to respond to emergencies, first to gain access there and then to be in these elements is extremely dangerous."
In this weather, it's especially important for first responders to get to stranded motorists quickly and safely.
"Because of the extreme cold you cannot be in those elements, or be in a vehicle and not be able to move and not have heat in your car," Yaeger said. "It is not safe at any point."
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