By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
January 12, 2009 04:00 am The largest snowstorm to hit Oneonta so far this winter dumped 8 inches of snow Saturday night into Sunday morning. And the snow will be sticking around as sub-zero temperatures are forecast for later this week. An arctic deep freeze will bring some of the coldest weather seen in several years, according to Accuweather and the National Weather Service. Area snowfall from the weekend storm ranged from 8 inches in Oneonta to 3.8 inches in Laurens. Most areas had between 4 and 6 inches, according to reports from NWS weather observers. State police shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 88 between exits 11 and 12 Saturday after a tractor-trailer flipped over near exit 12 at about 2:30 p.m., just as the snow began to accumulate. The driver was uninjured and the highway was reopened by early evening, troopers said. There were no other serious personal-injury crashes related to the weather, troopers said. City police reported towing more than 40 cars found in violation of the city's snow ordinance, which prohibits on-street parking after 2 1/2 inches or more of snow. By midweek, frigid temperatures will cross the region, with a daytime high Wednesday in Oneonta of 13 degrees, a daytime high Thursday of 12 degrees and a daytime high Friday of 4 degrees, according to the NWS forecast. Overnight lows will be down to around 9 below zero Thursday night, during the peak of the cold snap, according to the forecast. "It's going to be cold," said NWS meteorologist Mitch Gilt on Sunday night. The cold pattern is expected to continue for at least the next week and no warm-ups are likely, Gilt said. "The snow is going to stick around and that's going to help temperatures remain cold," Gilt said. Although it's the coldest air mass seen in several years, Gilt said it doesn't look like there will be any widespread record-breaking temperatures in the region from the cold snap. Most of the records for this time of year are well below zero in the minus-10 degree to minus-20 degree range, he said. Accuweather is reporting the cold snap will affect millions of people throughout the Midwest, Northeast and into the Southeast, with New York City potentially seeing its coldest temperature since 1994. The following are snowfall totals from NWS weather observers Sunday morning: Oneonta - 8 inches Davenport - 7.5 inches Walton - 6.5 inches Delhi - 6 inches Worcester - 6 inches Guilford - 5.8 inches South New Berlin - 5.3 inches Binghamton - 5 inches Cooperstown - 5 inches Norwich - 4.8 inches Milford - 4.8 inches Laurens - 3.8 inches
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