it took a while––nearly a month of winter––but Schoharie County finally got its first significant snowstorm Sunday night and Monday.
Although roads were in rough shape Monday morning, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday limited school and work traffic.
Snowfall started about 9pm Sunday, and by the time the storm wound down on Monday, the area had eight to 11 inches, according to reports.
Schoharie County lucked out in a way because earlier forecasts predicted up to 14 inches.
“It actually worked out well, with Monday being a holiday,” said Mike Hartzel, director of the county Office of Emergency Services.
Sheriff Ron Stevens reported only two mishaps. A tractor-trailer got stuck on Route 10––“that usually happens in a snowstorm,” he said––and a garbage truck overturned in Conesville.
The garbage truck was trying to back into an unplowed driveway, Sheriff Stevens said, and on slushy Route 990V, the truck slipped into a depression.
There were no injuries, but the truck’s fuel tank was ruptured, so HAZMAT, the Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Transportation were called in, Sheriff Stevens said.
Otherwise, he described the storm as uneventful.
“For us, it was the first big snow,” Sheriff Stevens said. “Not many people were on the road, and everybody just hunkered down after the few cold days we had before.”