ITHACA, N.Y. — After a day of pounding snow and strong winds, a Lake Effect Snow Warning remains issued until 4 a.m. Tuesday in Tompkins County, the National Weather Service reported Monday night.
The most recent numbers in the county, according to the NWS, say that the town of Caroline reported 20.3 inches of snowfall at 8:01 a.m., one of the highest reported snowfalls in the region. Dryden reported nine inches at 9:12 a.m. and Ithaca scraped by with just 4.2 inches at 7:02 a.m.
Sine then, the region saw about 1 to 2 inches of snow per hour, and residents aren’t out of the woods yet. The weather service is predicting that heavy, consistent snowfall will continue to come down until about midnight before tapering off. An additional 2 to 4 inches of snow are expected to stick Tuesday morning.
Wind will likely be 15 to 20 mph with 35 mph gusts.
Road conditions will continue being snow-covered and slippery, making travel “very hazardous or impossible,” the weather service says. People are being cautioned not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary.
A Tompkins County dispatcher said that since 9 p.m. last night, just before a winter weather travel advisory was issued, the center has received about 250 calls for service. About 125 of them were traffic related, such as property damage crashes or reports of vehicles off the road. No fatal crashes were reported in the county as of 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Schools were canceled throughout the county Monday. No information, as of Monday night, has been released about whether schools will be closed or delayed Tuesday
Note: This report was written with the most up-to-date information available early Monday night. We will update this story as more information is reported through the National Weather Service.