A mass of arctic air settling over New York is pushing most of upstate into a deep freeze that’s not expected to lift until the weekend.
Temperatures dropped below zero in parts of northern New York Wednesday, where high winds made it feel nearer minus 30 degrees. Forecasters said temperatures across upstate would dip even further on Thursday, with subzero overnight lows forecast in most areas and even colder conditions expected to set in Friday.
“It really doesn’t feel that bad today because the sun is shining,” Paula Schell, the town clerk in Pamelia, said of conditions about 75 miles north of Syracuse. “It makes it feel warmer. It’s when the wind starts blowing that I mind it.”
Although the North Country region was the coldest on Wednesday, the unseasonable temperatures and heavy winds bit New Yorkers across the state.
Temperatures in the Albany area and through the Mohawk Valley were hanging in the single digits, with below-zero wind chills. Winds were calmer in Rochester and Buffalo, where it was lightly snowing and temperatures were around 10 degrees. Temperatures in the Hudson Valley and New York City metro area were in the high teens to low 20s.
Despite the stinging cold, New Yorkers tried to make the best of it.
Just outside of Albany in Niskayuna, Scott Sokalski braved the weather while hoisted high in the air in a cherry picker. He was adjusting a piece of Time Warners Cable’s network equipment that was in danger of failing after its plastic and metal connectors contracted in the cold. The truck’s bucket has a small electric heater built in, but it wasn’t making much difference with winds gusting at around 20 mph making it feel like five below.
“Once the wind starts blowing, there’s not much you can do,” Sokalski said. “But I’d much rather be doing this now in the sunshine than have to come back out here at night.”
The frigid conditions also caused complications for highway managers because in subzero temperatures, road salt doesn’t melt ice.
“Once we get into minus 10, minus 20, in some cases we have to go to just straight sand, a light dusting of sand, on the highway to get some grit, provide some traction,” said Mike Flick of the state Transportation Department in Pamelia.
Forecasters expect temperatures across upstate to fall below zero by Friday, touching as low as minus 30 around Tupper Lake and other parts of the Adirondacks. While the Adirondacks often get subzero cold snaps in winter, temperatures usually don’t dip that low, said Brian Montgomery, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albany.
“It’s a bit unusual,” he said. “An arctic air mass is settling over the region, and the heart of it will be felt by Thursday night. The winds are dying off, but when you have temperatures approaching 10, 20 and 30 below, it can be quite dangerous.”
Overnight lows Thursday in the Albany area are expected to be around minus 10.
While the winds are expected to be calmer in the eastern part of the state Thursday, forecasters expect winds to pick up in western New York, where temperatures are expected to be in the single digits with wind chills in the low to mid teens.
Thursday’s overnight lows in the Hudson Valley are expected to be just below zero, with some snow in the forecast. Temperatures around the New York City metro area are forecast in the low single digits, with snow in the forecast as well.
Frigid conditions are expected to give way to a bit of warming up for the weekend.