WASHINGTON COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Washington County's had a busy Tuesday. Winter weather expected to accumulate between 8 and 16 inches in different parts of the rural county have been accompanied by strong winds and plenty of downed tree limbs. In a midday update, the county said its snow emergency would stay in effect until 8 a.m. Wednesday morning - and anyone traveling should expect a slow trip in the meantime.
The National Grid outage map shows exactly what the county is talking about. As of around 2 p.m., a curtain of outages affecting 1,557 customers was reported in Fort Ann, along with amounts of a few hundred apiece in areas around Cambridge and just east of Argyle. An earlier mass outage took down the power in most of Whitehall, but was reported as resolved by the afternoon.
As the snow continues to fall, Washington County advises all travelers by car or on foot to take caution, especially in areas with a lot of trees - which is to say, the majority of the county. Heavy snow on trees has caused some fallen limbs and wires down, with more likely to come. The county warned about visibility getting cut off by continued snowfall as day turns to evening.
Community members worried about being safe enough can take lessons from a list the county provided with its update. Preparedness tips to follow include staying away from downed wires, running generators outdoors, using flashlights instead of candles, checking on family members and neighbors, and making a plan to relocate in case of a lengthy outage. 911 should only be called in the event of an emergency.
It's a similar story in Warren County. Glens Falls was dealing with over 1,600 outages as of midday Tuesday, including a large amount of western Glens Falls including the area around Glens Falls Hospital. Queensbury and Lake George have been in similar condition, with Fort Ann's triangle of outages extending up to the east side of the lake, including the Pilot Knob and Cleverdale areas.
