Winter: 2020-2021
Total Snowfall Delays Early Dismissals Cancellations Snow events* 1+" 3+" 6+"
~49.9" 2 0 9A 16 8 5 2

,,*note: through March 1, 2021
A includes one "Remote Snow Day""

Day Date Year Closings Amount Type Note
Fri. Oct. 29 2020 None 0.2 Snow S@~6a, E@~1130a. Rain system the day before transitioned to snow early Friday morning before tapering off. Snow very wet. Heaviest snow was between about 8a and 930a as back edge band moved through. Light snow into mid/late morning. Accumulation varied around the region, but in Kingston area snow primarily stuck to cars. Slight accumulation on grasses. And very slight accumulation on wooden surfaces. No road accumulation. Greater accumulations in the Catskills/Gunks/parts of Dutchess County. Total of 0.2 in was measured on top of cars in Kingston. Corroborated by NWS storm report of 0.2 near Rosendale.
Wed. Dec. 09 2020 N/A 0.2 Snow S@~10:30a, E@~2p. Clipper moved through NY. Light wet snow stuck to some grassy areas. No road accumulation. Observations based on NYSMesonet at RedHook and HighFalls. Precip = 0.02 and temps = 32-33F. Schools on remote learning due to COVID, but would have been no school impact.
Mon. Dec. 14 2020 N/A ~0.5 Snow S@730a, E@730p. Wet light snow stuck to all surfaces except roads. Schools on COVID remote learning. NYSMesonet obs at High Falls or Rhinebeck: 0.16 & 0.13, pre temps 33 to 36. Despite all snow and relatively high precip amounts, snow total estimated to be aound 0.5 based on obs.
Wed Dec 16 2020 No Impact See Dec. 17 Snow See Dec. 17, 2020 closing
Thur Dec 17 2020 Closed ~15.0 Snow S@~7p Wed, E@~10a Thu. Storm moved from Oklahoma area up Ohio valley and quasi-transitioned to noreaster. Heavy snow banding across interior Northeast with primary band remaining quasi stationary from central PA to NY i-88 corridor. Large swath of 24+ inches from Binghamton through Albany. Up to 42 inches in Binghamton. Ulster County reports ranged from 10 to 18 inches with generally 14-16 inches across KCSD. All Ulster County schools closed Thursday except trivalley which continue "remote learning" during the storm. No KCSD impacts Wednesday or Friday. Roads in City of Kingston remained very poor with snow caked and on roads and slow removal - Snow emergency remained effect until 2PM December 20th.
Fri Dec 18 2020 No Impact See Dec. 17 Residual Due to COVID kingston had already been implementing a "2-hour remote hybrid" schedule on Fridays with remote instruction beginning at 9:45am
Fri-Sat Jan. 1-2 2021 N/A 0.1 Ice S@7/9p Fri. Steady precip through 1a, light percip through 6a. Surface temps at or below freezing (min 30) through 1a/3a. Ice event in the hudson valley. Total precip of 0.45-0.50 per NYS mesonet. Estimated less than 0.1 inch ice based on NYS mesonet webcam at high falls, confirmed by NWS ice report of 0.1 in Esopus. Max Ulster County snow report = 0.6 inches in Phonecia.
Sun-Mon Jan. 3-4 2021 None 2.0 Snow S@~5p, E@~4a. The storm generally brought 2 to 4 inches of snow to Ulster and Duchess Counties. The greatest local snow totals were over extreme southern Ulster County where up to five inches was reported in Wallkill. Here in Kingston, the estimated total snowfall is 2.0 inches. This is based on reports of about 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches from Kerhonkson to Hurley to Red Hook. Totals of 3.0 to 3.3 inches were reported from Highland to Esopus. The snow fell steadily from 5PM Sunday through 12AM Monday and then became lighter and more intermittent from 12AM to 5AM Monday. With temperatures in the region hovering from 30 to 32 degrees throughout the storm, the wet snow left roads mainly wet in the area, but clung to trees making for a very picturesque Monday morning. Saugertes, Red Hook, and Rhinebeck school districts operated on a delayed class schedule.
Tue Jan 26 2021 Closed See Jan 27 Snow See January 27, 2021
Wed Jan 27 2021 Delay ~2.5 Snow S@12p Tuesday January 26, E@~3a January 27. Deep trough that impacted Southwestern US with heavy snow in AZ (+Snow in Phoenix) spawned surface low that moved from CO/KS through upper Ohio Valley and into the northeast. Frontogenic band of snow moved across NY Tuesday producing periods of moderate snowfall, followed by lighter residual snowfall Tuesday night. TUESDAY: Margaretville, PineBush, Marlboro issued early dismissals. Trivalley issued remote learning day (livingston manor already on COVID remote learning through February 1. All remaining Ulster County schools closed Tuesday likely due to covid related scheduling changes.. otherwise normally would have been an early dismissal as Snow was not forecast to begin until noon in Kingston. This was the earliest Cancellation for anticipated snowfall since December 19, 2008 when school was cancelled for an 8.5 inch storm that began at noon - although there is evidence to suggest that that storm was initially forecast to begin earlier. Otherwise, all other preemptive cancellations since 2007 were for snow that began falling no later than 10AM. Wednesday: most UC schools issued delays.
Mon Feb 1 2021 Closed ~15.6 Snow S@130am Feb 1. E@10am Feb 2. MillerB type storm that transitioned to broad noreaster. Main storm band pivoted just NW of NYC with 20-30 inches across SE NY, Northern NJ, and NE PA. Reports of 12 to 19 inches across much of northern and central Ulster/Dutchess County. 20 - 26 inches across southern Ulster/Dutchess Counties. Main band moved through midHidson Valley between ~2pm - ~7pm Monday with 7 inches of snow in that time at NYSMesonet in High Falls. Steady snow ended at 10am Tuesday, but residual moisture lingered across region with intermittent flurries/snow showers into Tuesday night. All Ulster County schools closed or virtual learning Monday and Tuesday. All Ulster County Schools delay or virtual learning on Wednesday. Estimate of 15.6 inches in Kingston is based on CoCoRaHS 24-hr snow totals of 2.2" at 7am Feb 1st 2miles S of Hurley, 14.4" at 7am Feb 2nd 2miles S of Hurley, and storm total of 16.9" 2miles S of Hurley (believed to be most accurate of all local observations) averaged with observations surrounding the Kingston area (except 25.6" from Saugerties - which was a twitter report from a teenager without context or photo evidence and the accuracy is questioned - plus likely highly localized and not appropriate for averaging over distances). The storm total of 14.2" reported by NWS at 2miles N of Kingston is actually a 24hr snow accumulation report from 7am February 1st - 7am February 2nd. It is believed that an additional accumulation of approximately 1.5 inches fell between 1am and 7am Feb 1st that was not reflected in this total. This is supported by NYSMesonet HighFalls accumulations of 0.18" QPF / 1" Snow by 7am Feb 1st and NYSMesonet RedHook accumulations of 0.15" QPF / 2" Snow by 7am Feb 1st. The totals derived from NYSMesonet + the 2miles N of Kingston observation = 15.7". The 2miles S of Hurley averaged with other local observations total =15.6". Verifying each other.
Tue Feb 2 2021 Closed See Feb 1 Snow See February 1, 2021
Wed Feb 3 2021 Delay See Feb 1 Snow See February 1, 2021
Sun Feb 7 2021 n/a 0.6 Snow S@~10a, E@~3p Sunday. Coastal low brought swath of snow to coastal NE. Ulster County on northern edge with generally 0.5 to 1.0 inches. Start times based on NYSMesonet observation at High Falls and Red Hook. QPF at these two stations was 0.07 inches and 0.06 inches. Kingston accumulation based on NYSMesonet and NWS observations.
Tue Feb 9 2021 Closed ~3.5 Snow S@~330a, E@~3p. Temps in upper teens/20 @start - upper teens in end. Amount/time based on 0.38" QPF NYSMesonet Highfalls & 0.30 RedHook.
Thur Feb 11 2021 None ~0.1 Snow S@~1a, E@3a. Temps=20. Estimates based on 0.1" NWS reports in Hurley&Redhook. Time based on 0.02" that fell at NYSMesonet Highfalls.
Tue Feb 16 2021 Closed ~0.25 & 0.1 Ice & Snow S@11pm, E@8am. Widespread ice/sleet event across SE NY. Mainly freezing rain Monday night with brief snow likely at onset. Per NYSMesonet HighFalls, temp started@24F, 30@4a, 32@7am. Up to 0.5 inches ice in Bethel (Sullivan County). Kingston likely experienced just drizzle/rain at the very end - details unknown. NWS report of storm total snow around Kingston: 0.3" in Esopus, 0.1" in Hurley, 0.1" RedHook. NWS Storm total ice around Kingston: 0.3" Esopus, 0.06" Stone Ridge, 0.25" Poughkepsie area. NYSMesonet Storm total QPF: HighFalls = 0.83", RedHook = 0.76" - heavy precip likely ran off as liquid with not 100% freeing as ice on contact with surface. Initially a delay, upgraded to a closing at 7AM.
Thurs Feb 18 2021 Closed ~4.2 Snow S@3AM, lull@430AM, Sn@11AM, lull@6PM, Sn@11PM to 4PM with very light precip/lull between 8AM and 11AM. Storm presented as a plume of precip composed of multiple bands that moved SW to NE across NY preceding trailing low to its NW. Batch of snow moved through between 3AM and 430AM dropping 0.06" QPF at NYSMesonet HighFalls and 0.01" QPF at NYSMesonet RedHook. Temps 17-22F. Coated parking lot of NYSThruway police barracks per NYS Thruway exit 19 webcam. Additional steady light snow forecast to develop by mid day = Kingston and other districts closed. Snowfall during this early morning time period estimated to have been 0.2 -0.4 inches, but no storm reports received by NWS. Lull through 11AM, followed by steady snow 1030AM-6PM. Additional NYSMesonet accumulation of 0.1" QPF @ RedHook and 0.16" QPF at HighFalls. Temps 19-23F during this time. Storm total snow reported via NWS during this time was 1.5" in Esopus and Olivebridge, and 1.9" in Phonecia. Second lull from 530PM-11PM with steady precipitation resuming from 11PM to 4PM at High Falls with 0.29" QPF. At Red Hook precip from 11PM to 8AM: 0.15" QPF with a Final pulse from 11AM to 4PM Fri: 0.05" QPF. Max Temps 29F on Fri. NWS reported storm total of 3.7" in Esopus at 630am on Friday, 2.1/2.1" in Wallkill and Highland at 7AM, 4.0" in Rosendale at 8AM, 4.2" at 9AM in Esopus, 5.4" in Esopus at 5PM, 5.3" at 6PM in Phonecia. Total QPF: 0.51" in HighFalls and 0.31" in RedHook. Observations limited, but Kingston total snowfall very roughly estimated to have been 4.2 inches as Kingston is halfway between HighFalls and RedHook, i.e. QPF estimate of 0.41" and apparent snow ratios very slightly above 10:1 based on Esopus total/HighFalls QPF.
Fri Feb 19 2021 Closed See Feb 18 Snow See Feb 18, 2021 cancellation. Friday February 19th's cancellation marked Kingston's 6th snow day in February 2021. This surpassed February 2010 and January 2011 as the most snow days in a single month since my reliable KingstonSnows cancellation records began in December 2005. For perspective, Kingston averaged 6 snowdays per year from 2005-06 to 2019-20.
Mon Feb 22 2021 "Remote Snow Day" ~4.0 Snow S@12pm, E@5pm. North-South oriented band moved through region producing brief period of moderate snow with snow squall warnings in PA. Total QPF 0.33" in HighFalls, 0.31" in RedHook per NYSMesonet; AM low temps 13F in RedHook&20F in HighFalls - 29F-32F during event - steady/slight rise overnight after. Kingston total snow estimate based on NWS reports of 4.0" at 10pm in Port Ewen and 3.5" at 7a 2/23 @2miles south of Hurley. Likely some melt/settle in Hurley overnight. Snow coated all roads. In previous years likely would have been an ED, however, schools apparently not using ED's this winter due to COVID procedures. Due to all allotted snow days having been used, Kingston pivoted to remote snow days with virtual instruction and teachers teaching from home. Most Ulster County/local districts did the same. New Paltz closed with no virtual instruction. AFDALY 622AM 2/22: "Storm system across Great Lakes region will track into southeast Canada today, with an occluded front approaching from the west. Multiple forcing mechanisms, including surge of isentropic lift, approach of upper level trough, and enhanced upper level divergence within left exit region of strong upper level jet max (140-150 KT core approaching northern mid Atlantic coast) should support a band or area of moderate to briefly heavy snow late this morning through early/mid afternoon. Relatively steep mid level lapse rates of at least 6.5-7 C/km may also add some convective bursts to the snow as it passes through." WWA for midHudson Valley.
Sat Feb 27 2021 n/a ~1.0" Snow S@3am, likely transition to rain ~9AM. Temps initially above freezing by several degrees fell to ~30F with precip onset. rose above freezing @9amRedHook/1030AM HighFalls. Precip continued through 2PM with temps rising to 35-37F. Numerous NWS reports of 1-2 inches across Ulster/Dutchess including 1.0 reported in Kingston. Did stick to parking lots per NYS Thruway Webcams - slush on thruway shoulders.
Fri Apr 16 2021 none 0.0" Snow Light intermittent snow showers and flurries. no accumulation. First snow since Feb 27, 2021
Thu Apr 22 2021 none 0.0" Snow Light intermittent snow showers and flurries. no accumulation.
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