Skylar skims through area, leaving yet more snow
Say it isn't so ... umm ... snow.
A third Nor'Easter hit southern Orange County on Tuesday, closing schools and causing a morning mess for commuters, though not much more than that.
By far, the storm - dubbed Skylar by The Weather Channel - was mild in comparison to the March 7 storm called Quinn and the March 2 storm known as Riley.
In this instance "mild" can be defined as about five inches. In other instances, though, that amount could be considered a lot of snow for the area.
Those two prior storms clearly desensitized perspectives about snowfall amounts. In its advance projections, "First Due Weather from the Compound," which provides hyperlocal weather forecasts on its Facebook page, noted the greater Monroe area would see widespread accumulations from three to five inches of snow after its analysis of the many weather models. It made no changes to its final forecast before other weather forecasting outlets finalized theirs.
"Interesting snow accumulation across Orange County," the site posted on Tuesday afternoon. "Some places received a little more than a dusting to a couple inches of snow on the northwest side and the extreme west side of Orange County. Many locations received three to five inches of snow and a few hotspots received over six to seven inches of snow on the eastern side of Orange County. Snow banding had set-up over eastern Orange County, early morning pre-dawn, explaining the higher accumulations, and a second snow band over a section of western Orange County during the morning. We published a forecast on Sunday and stuck with it, while many others hemmed and hawed even into this morning, after it was half over."
Like the two prior Nor'Easters, residents figured out work plans as kids had a fourth day off from school in two weeks,
The Tuxedo School District had five snow days built into its calendar, and like many districts, used an eighth day with the March 13 storm. Now, the days that will be taken back are Monday, April 2; and Friday, May 25.
The Monroe-Woodbury School District had seven snow days built into this year’s calendar, but used its final available day on Thursday, March 8.
Now, the first student give back day is Monday, April 2.
Still, don't put those shovels away just yet. Long range forecasts - which can change - currently show a possible snow event for March 21.
- Nancy Kriz