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Weather Watch: Winter storm advisory in effect

By Howard B. Owens

Winds and lake effect snow is drifting into Genesee County, which has prompted the National Weather Service in Buffalo to issue a winter storm advisory through 10 a.m. tomorrow.

While snow accumulation will be measured only in inches, the cold blast, wind and wet white stuff blowing around could make road travel more difficult.

The sharp cold front is expected to hit Batavia this afternoon. Wind gusts could reach 40 mph.

The quick drop in temperatures could cause road ice to develop quickly.

This is an advisory from the NWS, which means the storm is not expected to be big, just big enough to encourage extra caution.

UPDATE 12:14 p.m.: County road crews report heavy snow in the southern part of the county. "It's a different world down here," said one.

UPDATE 12:55 p.m.: Here's a shot of what downtown is looking like about now.

UPDATE 2:27 p.m.: A report out of Pembroke: Conditions deteriorating. Visibility greatly diminished.

Weather Watch: Snow today, snow tonight, snow tomorrow

By Howard B. Owens

Three days after Christmas, and now we're getting snow.

After a couple of inches of snow overnight, more snow is expected this morning, and this afternoon and tonight up to three inches of lake effect snow is expected to fall.

And it will get colder tonight and tomorrow, with temperatures falling to 10 degrees with a high tomorrow of 14 degrees.

Tonight, also expect wind. The west winds will blow 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

There is snow forecast throughout the week, with chances of snow ranging from 40 percent to 80 percent.

Weather Watch: Roads getting icy tonight, snow by tomorrow afternoon

By Howard B. Owens

After a couple of somewhat warm days of rain, scanner reports say the roads are icing over tonight.

Fargo Road in Stafford has been reported as "pure ice."

There's a good likelihood of snow on Sunday with an accumulation of 1 to 2 inches, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all have some snow forecast currently.

Weather Watch: Chance of snow continuing into afternoon

By Howard B. Owens

We should expect at least some more snow today with highs in the mid-20s.  The chance of snow hovers at around 30 percent.

Tomorrow should warm to 34 degrees and we might see some sun.

The prediction of freezing ran on Christmas has been changed to just rain with a high of 38 and a 70-percent chance of precipitation.

Weather Watch: Here comes the sun

By Howard B. Owens

The forecast for today: Mostly sunny, but still pretty darn cold. Today's high will be in the lower 20s.

Tomorrow and Thursday, more sun with a slight warming on Thursday.

Christmas Day: The prediction for freezing rain in the morning remains in effect. Rain in the afternoon. Highs in the 40s. 

Saturday is the day they expect snow to return.

Weather Watch: Some chance of light snow throughout the day

By Howard B. Owens

You've probably already noticed a dusting of snow this morning. There's a chance that will continue throughout the day.

The chance of snow throughout the day ranges from 10 to 40 percent. 

Highs today will be around 30 with winds of 10 to 15 mph from the northwest.

The 10-day forecast from Weather.com has dropped its prediction of snow for Christmas Day and now tells us to expect freezing rain with a high of 38 degrees.

Weather Watch: Lots of cold, little snow

By Howard B. Owens

The 10-day forecast on weather.com says there's a 50-percent chance of snow on Christmas Day, but in the meantime, it's just going to be cold.

There's a 40-percent chance of snow on Tuesday, but otherwise, temperatures will range from 18 to 28 degrees, though we will see some sun.

Christmas Day will warm to 35, according to the current prediction, with snow expected both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. No word yet on how much snow to expect.

Snow in Oakfield

By Howard B. Owens

Bill Hume sends along a picture of the snow starting in Oakfield. Any snow during the day isn't expected to accumulate, but we may get 1 or 2 inches tonight.

Ice slick on Oak Street, police want drivers to slow down

By Howard B. Owens

There is apparently a slick sheet of ice on Oak Street and there have already been at least two minor accidents. Police are taking measures to get drivers to slow down.

UPDATE 11:25 a.m.: I missed the start of this call, so was unclear about what part of Oak. I drove out by the Thruway first, but it wasn't there. It was just south of the bridge going over Tonawanda, just before the roundabout. The accident scene is clear now and the area has been salted.

Weather Watch: Freezing rain advisory until 1 p.m.

By Howard B. Owens

A freezing rain advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service and will remain in effect until 1 p.m.

Precipitation is expected this morning with temperatures at or just below freezing.

The weather service is recommending caution during travel, but says an advisory means that travel should not be disrupted, nor should trees or power lines be effected.

Walking and driving may be difficult, but not impossible, according to the weather service.

Kibbe Park in the snow

By Howard B. Owens

I took this picture of Kibbe Park during my driving around this morning.

Dispatch Center received more than 1,000 phone calls yesterday

By Howard B. Owens

In answer to a request from The Batavian, Steven C. Sharpe, director of emergency communications for the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, sent along this note about call volume at the dispatch center yesterday:

On December 10, 2009, the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center received 1,004 telephone calls, of which 354 were 911 calls.  Our busiest period was from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. when we received 400 calls of which 165 calls were made to 911.  During that same time period there were 442 radio transmissions to and from dispatch.  To put it in perspective, during that four hours we received or answered the radio every 33 seconds, a telephone call every 36 seconds, a 911 call every 87 seconds.  We dispatched a total of 268 incidents, however many of these responses involved multiple agencies such a police, fire, emergency medical services, highway departments, and utilities.  According to our records there were 107 calls for service created for cars off the road or disabled vehicles, but many of the jobs involved multiple vehicles.  There were 56 property damage and/or personal injury accidents that were dispatched.  

These job numbers do not reflect the number of calls we transferred to the New York State Thruway for disabled vehicles and accidents on the NYS Thruway.  What is also not captured is the number of calls we received from callers telling us they were leaving their vehicles in municipal or private parking lots nor the calls we received regarding road conditions and travel advisories.  One way to help out the dispatch center is to have your listeners/readers call 585-345-3000 extension 3300 to hear the Road Conditions Update.  They can also read the different definitions for Travel Advisory, Road Closings And Travel Bans at the county website located at http://www.co.genesee.ny.us/dpt/sheriff/weatheradvisory.html
 

Travel advisory lifted

By Howard B. Owens

The travel advisory for Genesee County has been lifted by Sheriff Gary Maha.

However, roads to both the north and south continue to be subject to drifting and blowing snow and caution is advised.

Batavia digging out

By Howard B. Owens

I drove around Batavia a bit this morning -- lots of people shoveling and snow blowing this morning.

And, of course, the roundabout is plowed.

Weather Watch: Heavy snow moves south, but winds continue to blow

By Howard B. Owens

The thumb print of lake effect snow coming off of Lake Erie has settled over Wyoming County this morning, but the radar over Genesee County is clear.

The National Weather Service forecasts a partly sunny, but windy morning, with a 40 percent chance of some snow in the southern parts of the county.

Winds will whip at 20 to 30 mph with gusts of 40 mph. Temperatures will hit the low 20s.

The current temperature in Batavia is 16 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 1 degree.

There is a 70 to 80 percent chance of snow in Batavia early this afternoon, dropping off to 40 to 50 percent later in the afternoon and into the evening. The wind will die down only slighly.

Weather Watch: Lake effect snow warning has expired

By Howard B. Owens

 From the National Weather Service:

 

..LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING HAS EXPIRED...

THE LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

LAKE SNOWS HAVE MOVED SOUTH. JUST SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED FROM NOW ON.

Traffic backed up on Route 63 near Johnny's bar

By Howard B. Owens

Traffic is reportedly at a standstill on Route 63 near Johnny's bar.

Dispatch reports numerous calls, but the dispatcher says, "we're trying to figure out what's going on out there."

Law enforcement is in route.

UPDATE: The situation on Route 63 sounds like a mess. There is a jack-knifed truck holding up traffic, and (unrelated) one truck driver is filing a complaint against another truck driver for assault.

UPDATE 8:10 p.m.: Westbound Route 20 is being closed so that a DOT plow can be extracted from a ditch.

UPDATE 8:15 p.m.: Looking at the radar map, the storm is well south of Batavia. The heaviest concentration of snow is falling from Attica up to Bethany. Darien and Alexander are on the border of the storm.

UPDATE 8:44 p.m.: A driver stuck on Richmond Avenue called for a tow. He was told: Four-hour wait.

UPDATE 9:47 p.m.: It sounds like the car mentioned in the update above has been freed from its snow  bank. Also, it sounds like a truck in Pavilion is blocking traffic now.

UPDATE 9:57 p.m.: Route 63 is open again. Also, a law enforcement officer in Texas Town is reporting one of his suspects is eight-months pregnant and is feeling pressure and discomfort. We don't know why she was arrested. She's being taken to UMMC.


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