MEXICO, N.Y. (AP) — Before weekend squalls add to the 8 feet of snow already on the ground, the communities along eastern Lake Ontario needed the dry respite they got Friday.
“Have to move fast. Want to at least get it off my roof,” said Ray DeLong, 75, as he carved a path to his driveway with a snowblower and two contractors pushed streams of snow from the roof of his two-story home.
“Snow squalls off Lake Ontario have dumped snow by the feet onto Oswego County communities since Sunday, leading Gov. Eliot Spitzer to declare a state disaster emergency.
Parish and Scriba had about 8 feet of snow since the squalls started, according to the National Weather Service. Mexico Mayor Terry Grimshaw said his village was blanketed by 7 feet.
On Friday, the squalls shifted south into Syracuse and stayed there, dropping 4 to 8 inches of snow.
“They’ll get more tonight, probably enough to eclipse 100 inches over seven days,” weather service spokesman Jon Hitchcock said today.
More than a week of bitter cold and slippery roads have contributed to at least 20 deaths across the northern quarter of the nation – five in Ohio, four in Illinois, four in Indiana, two in Kentucky, two in Michigan, and one each in Wisconsin, New York and Maryland, authorities said.
Tennessee and northern Alabama were getting a taste of the wintery weather as well this morning – sleet and freezing rain iced over roadways, and some precipitation was turning to snow.
In Oswego, water main breaks and an animal ice rescue were adding to the challenges for city workers, Bateman said.
“Unfortunately, the forecast is for the same through the weekend,” the mayor said. “Hopefully, it won’t be as intense. But if it is, we’ll just clear it as the snow stops and wait for it to start again.”
