A storm bringing wind gusts approaching 40 mph and more than a foot of snow to the Hudson Valley has raised red flags for Cuomo, who expects downstate New York to get hit the hardest by the incoming weather pattern.
Cuomo said that a State of Emergency is expected to be declared as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16 in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, and Ulster counties, while a winter storm warning has been issued for the entire Hudson Valley.
Westchester and Rockland were not listed by Cuomo during his latest COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, Dec. 16 in Albany, though could still be added, depending on the weather.
Cuomo also noted that the state has brought in additional personnel to help combat the storm, and has enlisted additional plows, loaders, message signs, emergency vehicles, snowmobile operators, saw crews, utility crews, and more than two million tons of road salt.
On Wednesday, Cuomo also singled out Ulster County and Sullivan County, where forecasters have two specific areas that are the only in the state expected to receive between 18 inches and 24 inches of snow when the storm hits.
“Those are two very specific areas, the dark purple areas in Ulster and Sullivan,” Cuomo said while surveying the state’s snowfall forecast. “They are very specific that those areas are going to have high snowfall.
“I once said that the weather forecasters were incorrect, and the next day I got savaged by those forecasters from across the nation for saying it was incorrect,” he continued. “So I’m learning a little bit, but that’s a very specific forecast.”
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