ALBANY — Spring may be here, but high winds and snow will briefly hit the Capital Region overnight, causing possible whiteouts and travel hazards, meteorologists said.
A strong cold front is expected to hit around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Heavy rain will change to snow by 10 p.m. as temperatures quickly drop from the upper 40s to the 30s, Albany National Weather Service meteorologist Abbey Gant said. Snow in the immediate Albany area will likely be less than an inch, but wind gusts of 35 to 40 miles per hour could cause snow squalls and make for hazardous travel.
“It’s going to come down really hard and really fast, and it’s going to cause obstruction to visibility,” she said.
Road conditions could also be slippery due to rapidly dropping temperatures, with overnight lows in the 20s, Gant said. The evening commute will be unaffected Wednesday, and while some areas could still be slippery, the Thursday morning commute will likely not be impacted, she said.
The National Weather Service advised that the arctic front could also lead to some small hail as well as isolated thunderstorms in the north and west of the Capital Region.
Despite the severity, Wednesday night’s snow squalls will leave as quickly as they arrived, with the severe weather expected to end around 11 p.m. Temperatures will remain cool Thursday, but warm up to seasonable to slightly above seasonable going into the weekend, Gant said.
“It’s kind of a quick cold snap,” she said.
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