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Snow and sleet fall overnight - precipitation will taper off Tuesday

The scene on State St. in High Falls early Tuesday morning.
Randy Gorbman
/
WXXI News
The scene on State St. in High Falls early Tuesday morning.

The Winter Storm Warning for the Rochester area has been lifted. That happened mid-morning on Tuesday.

The forecast was originally for up to a foot of snow in many places, but  News 8 meteorologist Josh Nichols says the storm moved a bit more north and west than expected, and that brought some sleet and freezing rain mixed in with the snow, keeping some of the snow totals down. As of early Tuesday morning, Nichols says about 4 - 8 inches of snow had fallen.

He does expect the precipitation to change back to snow later in the morning, but the bulk of the heavy snow is over.

There will still be periods of snow during the day,  and brisk winds with a high of 28.

Travel was difficult in spots overnight, and the morning commute was messy, but no major accidents were reported.

The snow plows have been out since midday Monday and they will continue the snow clearing efforts throughout the day on Tuesday. That according to Jordan Guerrein, a spokesman for the NYS Transportation Dept.

He says if you have to be out on the roads, make sure to give yourself some extra time and also to give room for the snow plows to do their work.

"If you see our plows,...on 490, 590, 390 heading on your way into work this morning, just give us some space to work. Just know that they’re traveling at 35 miles an hour, they’re going much slower than you typically would in normal conditions." Guerrein says snow clearing efforts have gone smoothly, with no major roads closed due to the storm.

There were more severe weather conditions in other parts of the country due to the storms. Officials say a frigid blast of winter weather across the U.S. is likely to blame for the deaths of two people in Texas. More than 4 million people across Texas are without power after a massive storm system dropped temperatures into single digits as far south as San Antonio. 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.