Winter Storm Jonas blanketed the region on Saturday, Jan. 23 with a deluge of snow dropping up to 25 inches of snow in areas of Westchester County.
The first major snowfall of the winter, which was accompanied by wind gusts of more than 50 mph, nearly set record marks for accumulation. In anticipation of the wintery mix, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, issued a state of emergency and a travel ban that went into effect on Saturday afternoon, ordering all non-emergency vehicles off the roads.
No power outages were reported by NYSEG and Con Edison as a result of the storm.
Once the storm subsided late Saturday night, snow removal became the priority for municipal crews.
Most of the problems surrounding the storm were the same ones that always pop up, but the one day notice made it easier for municipal crews to prep the roads and inform residents to move their cars to alternate locations in some communities.
Crews in Harrison started on Saturday morning at 2 a.m., shortly after the storm started, according to Mayor Ron Belmont. In total, the town received approximately 23 inches of snow. Belmont lauded the performance of all of the departments tasked with managing the snowfall. “All of our departments—parks, highways, public works—they all did a great job. By Sunday morning, [Jan. 24] it was if it never snowed,” the mayor said.
On Monday, Jan. 25, many school districts in Westchester cancelled classes giving students a much-welcomed snow day. But in the days following Jonas, temperatures increased to the 40s and portions of the snow started to melt away.
