freak storm left nearly 200,000 upstaters in the dark (ASRC)

A snowstorm that dropped heavy, wet snow before the sun came up Tuesday was being blamed for causing widespread power outages across a span of upstate New York that stretches from the Southern Tier to the Adirondack Mountains.

The accumulated snow brought down countless trees, limbs and power lines, at one point leaving nearly 200,000 utility customers without power. Six to 11 inches of snow fell in the North Country, Capital Region and elsewhere in New York.

At 8 p.m. Tuesday, over 63,000 National Grid customers remained offline but crews were slowly restoring service. NYSEG was working on restoration to about 95,000 customers.

National Grid was working Tuesday to restore power to customers still in the dark at that point from the storm, which moved on Monday night. The National Weather Service said snowfall in the Capital Region varied from less than 3 inches in Albany to more than a foot in areas with higher elevation.

"It's definitely rare to have a snowfall event like this, but it's not unheard of. In Albany, we average a 2-inch snowfall in April about once every four years," said Dan Thompson, meteorologist. "What made this so impactful was the heavy, wet snow over the high terrain that caused a lot of power outages."

National Grid put on extra crews and extended shifts Monday night, but the snowy conditions and fallen trees Tuesday morning were making power restoration efforts especially difficult.

"There are many roads closed, which will delay our efforts to assess and establish restoration times," National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella said.

National Grid said earlier Tuesday that crews are "working closely with local officials and first responders to coordinate restoration efforts and our crews have begun assessing and repairing damage."

The power outages were reported across the southern and central Adirondacks. Thousands of residents in the Capital Region and the Mohawk Valley between Amsterdam and Utica were without service, too.

Thousands more were without service in Saratoga Springs and adjacent communities in Saratoga County. Widespread outages were also reported in the area that stretches between Lake George and Chestertown. 

The state's Southern Tier was rocked by outages with more than 102,000 New York State Electric & Gas customers in the dark at 10:30 a.m. The outages stretched from the outskirts of Elmira to the western Catskill Mountains. The area between Oneonta and Norwich was hit particularly hard with 21,000 customers in the vicinity left in the dark. The utility also reported pockets of outages in the northeastern Adirondack Mountains.

Spring had begun nearly a month ago, but the overnight storm dropped plenty of snow relative to the season. Two or more inches fell in the Capital Region, and much more was expected to the west. The snow turned into rain as the morning went on and the National Weather Service reported the storm was heading into New England. 

"The basic reason for that is that the snow is very wet so it stuck to the trees, which is what you'd expect from an April snowfall. But it weighs the trees down so the branches have been falling on the power lines," said weather service meteorologist Mike Evans.

Nick Bassill, a meteorologist who works at the University at Albany, attributed the severity to a string of unusual factors. 

The storm's track and total precipitation were not unlike a big midwinter storm, he said. Usually this time of year we get a cold rainstorm. But because it was a little cool the past few days, and the air was very dry. So once it starts precipitating, the temperature rapidly drops, he said. Also, most snow happened almost perfectly from sunset to sunrise, meaning the strong mid-April sun didn't have much effect.

The ground and pavement were warm, which limited its ability to stick as much to things like asphalt, but tree branches and power lines cool quickly, which allowed them to quickly get a heavy snow load, hence the widespread power outages, he said.

"Thankfully not many trees have leaves yet," Basill said in an email. "But to the extent, some have small leaves, flowers, or buds, this only exacerbated the effect."