ALBANY — The remnants of the season’s first snowfall transitioned into rain throughout most of the Capital Region, increasing the likelihood that the Wednesday morning commute would be sloppy but not dangerous.
By midnight, about an inch and half of snow had fallen at Albany International Airport but the flakes gave way to rain as the morning progressed.
Authorities dealt with a number of crashes on local highways overnight but most seemed cleared by 5:30 a.m.
Lee Picard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albany, said the morning commute should have drivers facing rain instead of snow and ice.
Weather in the Albany area had transitioned to rain and “we expect it to stay that way,” he said.
“The Capital District is just wet roads,” he said, but added, “There could definitely be some slick spots.”
Ahead of the storm, local auto mechanics and body shop experts urged people to take it slow, noting the first snowfall of the year often brings a rash of crashes as drivers readjust to winter roads.
The temperature in the region had climbed above freezing which was likely to ensure the precipitation remained rain until the storm ends later in the morning.
As of 5:30 a.m., a wintery mix was still falling in the southern Adirondack Mountains as well as in Schoharie County and other areas to the west of the Capital Region. Schoharie and Montgomery counties recorded between 2 and 3 inches of snow.
A number of schools in Warren, Essex, Herkimer and Greene counties were delaying the start of school on Wednesday.
Closings and delays
Much of the rest of the Capital Region measured between 1 to 3 inches of snow. A small amount of ice was recorded at the airport and elsewhere.
Snow fell in the Catskill Mountains too, with parts of western Greene County receiving 1 to 2 inches of snow.
The weather caused no widespread power outages.
New York power outage tracker
National Grid was dealing with small pockets of outages in Schenectady and Albany counties. Central Hudson reported scattered outages around parts of Ulster County, but just 70 customers had lost service. New York State Electric & Gas was restoring service to about 130 customers left in the dark in Sullivan County.
The temperature is expected to slowly climb through the 30s as the morning progresses before hitting the 40s in the afternoon.