Hazardous Christmas Outlook Issued For Hudson Valley

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Santa will have to brave a wild winter storm through the Hudson Valley on Christmas Eve, according to forecasts.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous outlook for the region. For Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties, the NWS said Tuesday:

A potent cold front will bring heavy rain and strong, gusty winds Thursday night into Friday morning. The combination of lingering snow pack and heavy rain may bring flooding, with the highest potential across northeast New Jersey, the Lower Hudson Valley, and southern Connecticut. The strongest winds are most likely to occur along coastal areas, such as Long Island, New York City, and coastal Connecticut where the potential exists for wind gusts 50 to 60 mph. There remains a fair amount of uncertainty in both the location of heaviest rain and the magnitude of the winds.

For Dutchess and Ulster, the NWS said simply that a storm system would move through the region, starting with milder air, moderate to heavy rainfall and gusty winds. The weather service warned that enough snowmelt could take place to cause some flooding.

Arctic air is expected to move in behind the storm and freeze everything.

Orange & Rockland Utilities declared a "storm watch" due to the rain and high winds.

"The storm activity has the potential to cause widespread power line damage and electric service interruptions, so company and contractor overhead line crews and tree removal crews are ramping up for a high-volume outage response to the storm, as are damage assessment, site safety, customer service operations and the wide array of O&R teams that support those functions," company officials said.