As expected, a messy mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain hit the Rochester area, and most of Western NY and the Finger Lakes from Wed. afternoon into early Thursday morning.
A few inches of snow fell in the early part of the storm, but you likely heard the tapping of the icy precipitation on your window panes by early Wed. evening and through part of the overnight.
There have been some power outages, but nothing on the scale of some of the major ice storms that have hit the area in recent decades.
As of 12:30 p.m. RG&E reported 2,300 customers without power in Monroe County, mostly in Pittsford and Henrietta.
National Grid reported just over 400 customers without power in Genesee County.
Roads are still slick, and many in law enforcement and government are urging extra caution on the roads on Thursday.
Jackie Bray is the Commissioner of the NY Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
She said that whatever does fall overnight, and into the morning, take some extra time for your commute on Thursday.
“Everyone should expect that your Thursday morning commute is going to be messy. The roads are going to be slick, there is going to be some ice, we’re going to see some ice on the trees so you might experience some downed trees, some downed power lines,” said Bray.
There were numerous flights canceled early Thursday out of the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport, with the winter storm that has swept the nation causing issues in a number of cities.
Rochester airport director Andy Moore said that that was partly due to the fact that some planes did not arrive last night due to weather conditions in other parts of the nation.
Moore said even though the airfield in Rochester was in good shape, the freezing rain kept some airlines from allowing their flights to take off.
"Obviously you don’t want to take chances; safety is the number one priority by all means, but those cancellations did start to stack up last night and that obviously impacts the early morning flight departures this morning, so it becomes an airline decision," Moore said.
Moore does expect the airline schedules to improve throughout the day, but you are always advised to check ahead before heading out to the airport.
The bulk of the freezing precipitation eased off by early Thursday morning. But the National Weather Service still has a Winter Weather Advisory in effect for the Rochester area until midnight.
Meteorologist Josh Nichols is calling for some leftover patchy, freezing drizzle on Thursday with a few flurries, and a high that will be mainly in the 20s for most of the day.
Friday will see sharply colder weather with a couple of inches of lake effect snow possible in some areas and a high of 20.
