After breaking record high temperatures on Saturday – 59-degrees in Poughkeepsie, 60-degrees in Albany – the Hudson Valley is now returning to winter with a wallop of gusty winds and up to a foot of heavy, wet snow beginning late Monday night.

The forecast of this winter storm has been slightly adjusted in the last 24 hours with trends shifting the snowfall mostly further south of the I-90 corridor, and the bulk of accumulation expected in the mid-Hudson Valley and higher terrain.

Timing: Snow begins late Monday evening and lasts into Tuesday afternoon. Heaviest snowfall is expected after midnight on Monday through Tuesday morning. A winter storm warning is in effect from 1am to 7pm Tuesday.

Accumulation: 8-12 inches of heavy snowfall is forecasted for the Hudson Valley region with locally higher amounts.

Impacts: Snow will quickly become heavy once it begins with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour or greater expected Tuesday morning into the afternoon. Rain may mix in early on before transitioning to all snow resulting in heavy, wet accumulations. Gusty winds up to 40mph expected during the day on Tuesday, with stronger gusts closer to the coast.

Travel: Travel will be very difficult to impossible. Avoid unnecessary travel, if possible, and keep a blanket, flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of emergency. As of midnight on Monday, a ban on all tandem trailers and empty trucks will be in effect on the Thruway/I-87 from exit 24 to NYC, as well as the Berkshire Spur, I-95 and I-287.

Follow the latest updates with HVNY on X + Instagram. And learn more about “The Science Behind Our Storms” with Dr. Anton Seimon, atmospheric scientist, National Geographic Explorer, Research Scholar with Bard College's Center for Environmental Policy and tornado researcher, during a special Morning Coffee Webinar on Tuesday morning, February 13, 2024 from 8:30-9:30am via Zoom. Dr. Anton Seimon will share insights from decades of observing Hudson Valley storm phenomena and climate change impacts to help us plan for the future. Register.

• Who will be the home of the next Champ? Champ, a 4-month-old Aussie mix currently living in Beacon was featured during the best part of the Big Game over the weekend – the Puppy Bowl! Champ, who is currently available for adoption through Arf Beacon, was highlighted as an adoptable pup during Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl XX on Sunday afternoon. According to Arf Beacon, Champ is “a lively, friendly and cuddly puppy,” who is “a pro at tug-of-war and likes to share some snuggles and kisses.” He was raised alongside a litter of kittens and would be a great addition to an active family. Fill out an application to meet Champ at arfbeacon.org/adopt (see more pictures of Champ here!)

• Closings due to weather: Check HVNY on X/Twitter and Instagram for the latest closings due to the storm on Tuesday, but already: The Town of East Fishkill will be delaying the opening their offices on Tuesday; the Village of Rhinebeck hall will be closed on Tuesday and the board of trustees meeting is moved to Wednesday; and the Town of Clinton has postponed Tuesday’s town board meeting to Thursday, February 15 with the public hearing on updates to the town’s farm law beginning at 6:15pm.

• Closings due to Presidents: Monday, February 12 is a legal holiday in New York State in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. And, next Monday, February 19 is Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday.

• The Magazzino Italian Art Campus in Cold Spring is temporarily closed through Friday, February 16, 2024. The museum will return to its regular winter hours on Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 11am to 5pm.

• Now that’s love: Sweetheart Screenings for Prostate Cancer will take place on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2024. Bring your loved one in for a prostate screening and free HIV testing at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center on 321 South Williams Street from 10am to 2pm. Free light refreshments will be available. For more information, contact the Orange County Department of Health at 845-291-3230.

• Show your love, with blooooood - A Blood Emergency has been declared by the New York Blood Center. The region’s blood supply is “at a critical low.” Help those in need with a life-saving donation: nybc.org

The Westchester County Department of Health is currently investigating two cases of toxoplasmosis, an infection with a parasite.

The two individuals became sick after attending game dinners held on Friday, January 19 and Saturday, January 20 at the Moses Taylor Jr. American Legion Post in Mount Kisco. According to the health department, approximately 20 others are experiencing symptoms and are being tested. 200 people reportedly attended the dinners over the two day span.

The health department is recommending that “all individuals who ate food at, or ate leftovers from these game dinners” to contact their doctor about potential exposure to toxoplasmosis. The health department added that “anyone who is pregnant, immunosuppressed, experiencing visual changes or eye symptoms,” to contact the health department at 914-813-5180 during business hours, 914-813-5000 after hours.

An employee from the American Legion Post where the game dinner was held says he believed the cause was deer meat from a vendor that was not properly cooked.

Toxoplasmosis is an illness that can cause birth defects or miscarriages in pregnant women, can be deadly for those with a weakened immune system, or result in prolonged visual deficits in those with eye symptoms. A healthy person’s immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness, and most people do not require treatment. Some people with the parasite develop a flu-like illness that lasts a few weeks with symptoms that can include muscle aches, headache, fever with chills and sweats, tiredness, sore throat or swollen lymph nodes. Long-term effects, such as vision problems, are also possible.

by Katherine Wasson

The start of a new year is a time for reflection. In most ways, 2023 was a return to normal. Schools were fully back in person; hybrid work was old hat; travel rebounded; and people ate in restaurants and went out to the movies and plays. One could be forgiven for thinking that the greatest pandemic of our lifetime had not even happened. Yet, I see people easily agitated and stressed, and nerves frayed. These behaviors show up in social interactions, on the road, and on social media. I think in our desire to regain a sense of normalcy we have not grieved properly for the losses and hardships of the past four years.

Grief is “the anguish experienced after significant loss, usually the death of a beloved person,” according to the American Psychological Association. It can present in response to any event that disrupts or challenges our sense of normalcy or ourselves. Natural disasters, wars, and pandemics involve collective grief, loss experienced by a group, and traumatic grief is a response to loss that takes place under horrific and unpredictable circumstances. Grief is typically followed by a period of mourning. Avoiding this stage can lead to complicated grief, a disorder characterized by long-lasting, painful emotions and difficulty recovering from the loss. I think our collective, traumatic, and unresolved grief is seeping out in unhelpful and unhealthy ways. If we do not tend to it, it could affect us for years to come.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross is famous for identifying five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages don’t necessarily happen in this order, and I think as a society we are stuck in the anger stage…

Read the full piece from Katherine Wasson, published with permission from The Hastings Center in Garrison:

On his way to his first oath of office as U.S. President on March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln – who was born on February 12, 1809 – boarded a train for a whistle-stop tour enroute to Washington to “help unify a greatly divided country.”

According to the Dutchess County Historical Society:

Their departure from Albany the morning of Tuesday, February 19, 1861 with the next overnight stay being New York City, set up the Dutchess whistle stops for the day. Although crowds gathered at Tivoli, Barrytown, Hyde Park, and Staatsburgh, and the President could be seen at the end of the train car platform, the train did not stop there.

They would only fully stop in Rhinecliff and Fishkill (Beacon), for 2 or 3 minutes. They stopped at Poughkeepsie for about 15 minutes.

Lincoln’s comments at Poughkeepsie:

I cannot expect to make myself heard by any considerable number of you, my friends, but I appear here rather for the purpose of seeing you and being seen by you. (laughter).  I do not believe that you extended this welcome, one of the finest I have ever received, to the individual man who now addresses you but rather to the person who represents for the time being the Majesty of the Constitution and the government. (Cheers.) I suppose that here as everywhere you meet me without distinction of party but as the people. (Cries of yes, yes.) it is with your aid, as the people, that I think we shall be able to preserve not the country–for the country will preserve itself–but the institutions of the country– (great cheering); those institutions which have made us free, intelligent, and happy–the most free, the most intelligent and the happiest people on the globe. (Tremendous applause.)

I see that some, at least, of you are of those who believe that an election being a decided against them is no reason why they should sink the ship. (“Hurrah.”)  I believe with you, I believe in sticking to it; and carrying it through; and if defeated at one election, I believe in taking the chances next time. (Great laughter and applause.) I do not think that they have chosen the best man to conduct our affairs, now–I am sure they did not (here the speaker was interrupted by noise and confusion in another part of the crowd)–but acting honestly and sincerely, and with your aid. I think we shall be able to get through the storm (here Mr. Sloane caught hold of mr. Lincoln’s arm and pulled him around to see the locomotives, the Union and the Constitution, which passed gaily dressed with flags. Turning hastily Mr. Lincoln continued)–In addition to what I have said I have only to bid you farewell. (Cheers and a salute, amid which the train moved on).

According to local newspapers, “On arriving at Fishkill, the people were found gathered in force. Canon, music and shouting gave voice to the enthusiasm. Ladies waved handkerchiefs, the men cheered. Mr. Lincoln showed himself to the crowd and thanked them for the reception but as the train only stopped 3 minutes, Lincoln declined to speak saying only that a speech would delay his on time arrival in Washington.”

With the Tuesday, February 19, 1861 Poughkeepsie stop as a kind of beginning marker, it would only be four years, two months and several days later, that the same locomotives would take the remains of the assisanated President into a stop at Poughkeepsie station, this time heading north, Tuesday, April 25, 1865. On the train were the remains of son, Willie, who died age 12 in 1862.

Celebrate Washington’s birthday at his headquarters in Newburgh, catch a free screening of Bob Marley: One Love in Woodstock before it hits theaters, play ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ movie Bingo in Beacon, take a Polar Plunge, check out the inaugural Eleanor Roosevelt Banned Book Awards honoring author Judy Bloom at Bard, count birds in your backyard (for science!), and more:

To enter: Submit your (1) best photo of winter in the Hudson Valley from this season (2023-24) to photos@hvny.info. Original photographs only. Please limit any filters/retouching, and include your name and the location if it’s a public place. See the HVNY website for more details. Deadline TBA/end of “winter.” (Pictured: An entry from last year’s contest by Anat Ishai.)