Hudson Valley Preps For Rain, Snow, Wind, Outages

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Hurricane Zeta is expected to push toward New York after it makes landfall while an ice storm is headed our way from the southern Plains, so forecasters are talking about rain and snow and one power company is gearing up for outages.

We're talking a fair amount of rain. Also, gusty winds Thursday and Friday could reach 40 mph. The combination is what worries power companies.

"Of particular concern in this storm are trees with nearly full canopies of leaves that provide extra strain for branches and trunks in high winds and snow, and rain-saturated ground that provides less stable footing for the roots that anchor trees," said officials at Orange & Rockland Utilities.

In a post called "Is The Friday Snow Threat Real?" the folks at Hudson Valley Weather gave a qualified yes on Wednesday. "If the approaching cold air pushes in fast enough… a period of snow is very much a possibility ... When we talk about the potential for accumulations… it’s a bit early to get to that. We’re not fully convinced that the 2nd piece of energy, the 2nd low pressure… has enough cold air, energy and moisture to spread accumulating snow into the Hudson Valley."

Still, they said, "Up to 3 or 4 slushy inches can’t be ruled out… especially as you go up in elevation."

The National Weather Service on Wednesday said the probability for accumulation is low.

"This change to wintry precipitation is likely to be a mere show of wet snowflakes in the valleys of central and northeastern Pennsylvania to the Hudson Valley of New York state and the Boston area of Massachusetts from Thursday night to Friday morning," AccuWeather Senior Storm Warning Meteorologist Brian Wimer said.