This day in Mohawk Valley history: February 22, 1940

Second Heavy Storm Of Season Hits Local Area

Second Heavy Storm Of Season Hits Local Area

Last Snow Makes Depth of Three Feet Dropped in Week’s Time

Following the blizzard of midweek last week, when eighteen inches of snow was piled up and drifted over some eight inches already on the ground, another storm on Monday brought another foot or more of heavy, moist snow and once again blockaded roads which had just been opened. Several schools of the county were closed at noon on Monday and in the rural districts remained closed on Tuesday.

All the main county highways were open for traffic Tuesday morning, however, although mail and bus services was delayed to some extent. Conditions on U. S. Route 20, the Cherry Valley Turnpike, were reported Tuesday afternoon as “bumpy” and careful driving was recommended.

In contrast to last week’s storm, there was no gale in the storm of Monday and Tuesday and less interference with telephone and light services in this area.

Snow plow crews working continuously since Sunday fought the 16 inch fall that has fallen during that time and were able to keep the roads open although traffic moved at a snail’s pace in several sections of the county.

The warm weather Sunday somewhat relieved the snow conditions of the previous week, when an 18 inch fall was recorded, and the plow crews had opened every main and secondary class roads. This thaw together with the subsidence of wind that followed the winter’s worst storm enabled the roads which, had been badly drifted opened up.

The forces Sunday were concentrated on shoving the tops of the extra large drifts back in a great number of cases pushed the snow further away from the main highways.

The storm abated Tuesday night and Wednesday broke bright and clear, however a strong wind blowing the light snow, keep sifting the outlying roads full and the snow plows were obliged to keep on the move all day Wednesday.

During the past week officials say that nearly 40 inches of snow has fallen in Schoharie county and in many places drifts from 12 to 15 feet in depth have been reported.

At 10 o’clock Wednesday morning a snow plow crew started to widen the road on Oak Hill where one way traffic prevailed due to constant winds since early morning. At the same time a report from Barton Hill section showed that the road was nearly “plugged” and many other sections were in the same condition.

During this week’s storm thermometers hovered around the freezing point, and at times in the latter part of the precipitation the snow came heavy and wet. This, with the mild temperatures of Wednesday, when it thawed slightly, tended to settle the volume of snow on the ground. However, by sundown Wednesday the mercury had started downward, and this continued until this Thursday morning when zero temperatures prevailed. While it is bound to warm a bit with bright sun during the day, the weather department predicts slight change in temperatures Thursday and Friday with probably more snow Friday.

Source: NYSHistoricnewspapers.org