Third major winter storm hits Warwick in less than two weeks

WARWICK — Spring is less than a week away, the popular Bellvale Farms Creamery is planning to begin serving ice cream on April 2 and winter-weary residents of Warwick were still digging out of the third winter storm in 10 days.
Another nor'easter began dumping snow across the New York area on Tuesday morning, March 13, with the storm finally pulling away that afternoon.
This most recent storm, however, had the least impact of all three blizzards.
The Town of Warwick Department of Public Works estimated only five to seven inches of snow accumulation throughout the town depending on the elevation. And the O&R outage map did not show any significant power out areas in the town.
But Warwick, Florida and Greenwood Lake Schools did have to close for the day.
The fact, however, that three heavy snowstorms and high winds did occur in such a short time was a problem for the town.
"This series of storms," said Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, "has forced us to order 10 per cent more salt than our estimated need for the season, so that will affect our budget."
He explained that these have been long duration storms requiring DPW workers to work overtime throughout each storm, from the first snowflake to the last. And the equipment is also pushed to the limit, which in the age of tax caps, is kept longer. That tends to cause more frequent maintenance issues.
"I will say, however," said Sweeton, "that the men and women of the department have stepped up each and every time to ensure our roads remain passable for emergency services as well as residents that need to be out."
- Roger Gavan