Guide to a Catskills Memorial Day Weekend

By Anne Pyburn Craig
5/23/13 - 6:43 pm

Above: Hundreds of rubber duckies take to the waters of Gooseberry Creek in the Tannersville Rubber Duck Race & Crazy Boat Race and Festival on May 25. Photo via the Great Northern Catskills website. 

Memorial Day weekend in the Catskills abounds with parades, yard sales, backyard barbecues…and a vast and lively array of special events to be enjoyed.

Many towns in the region will be holding their annual Memorial Day parades, but that's not all that's going on this weekend by a long shot. Here’s the Watershed Post's guide to the best of the weekend's unofficial festivities. For a full list of Memorial Day events, including parades, see our Memorial Day events calendar. 

DELAWARE COUNTY  Read more

WP Deal: Free columbine when you schedule a garden consultation by June 1

By root2shoot
5/23/13 - 5:05 pm

The following is a WP Deal for Watershed Post readers, from advertiser From Root To Shoot:

From Root to Shoot is offering a free columbine to anyone contacting and scheduling a consultation during the last week of May!   Read more

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Flash flood watch issued for Greene, Ulster counties

By Lissa Harris
5/23/13 - 4:34 pm

The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a flood watch for eastern New York and western New England, in effect through 8am Friday morning. In New York State, the watch covers Albany, Columbia, Greene and Ulster counties.

From a NY-Alert message posted at 3:53pm:

A Strong Cold Front Is Expected To Track Across The Region Through Tonight. Bands Of Showers And Thunderstorms With Very Heavy Rain Are Expected. The Bands Of Showers And Thunderstorms Should Track Slowly East Through Eastern New York And Western New England Through Tonight. The Ground Across The Area Is Wet From Heavy Rain This Afternoon And The Past Few Days. Many Areas Should See 1 To 2 Inches Of Rain Through Tonight...But Localized Amounts Of 2 To 4 Inches Are Possible. * These Rainfall Amounts Could Cause Significant Standing Water On Roadways And Low Spots In Hilly Terrain...Along With The Potential For Flash Flooding.

DEC extends comment period on Belleayre projects

By Lissa Harris
5/23/13 - 12:08 pm

Above: More than 100 people pack the Discovery Lodge at the Belleayre Ski Center for an informational meeting about proposed upgrades to the ski center, held by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on Wednesday, May 22. Photo by Lissa Harris.

The state has added an additional 30 days to the public comment period for a pair of proposed projects on Highmount: The upgrade and extension of the state-owned Belleayre Ski Center and the building of the Belleayre Resort, a private development by Crossroads Ventures that has been in the works for nearly 15 years.  Read more

Cicadas on the march

By Lissa Harris
5/23/13 - 10:49 am

"Here they come," writes Watershed Post reader Penny Johnson, who snapped this photo of cicadas emerging in a West Hurley garden at 8am this morning. 

This year marks the emergence of Brood II, a group of 17-year cicadas in the Northeast that have spent most of the last two decades underground. And it has begun: As the soil eight inches below the surface hits 64 degrees, larval cicadas are emerging from the ground to molt, mate, lay eggs, and die. 

Downstate on Staten Island, the emergence is underway, the New York Times reports:  Read more

Man injured by hail in Roscoe

By Lissa Harris
5/23/13 - 10:03 am

A man was injured by falling hail at a Roscoe campground on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.

The man was trying to seek shelter in a bath house on the campground at around 1:35pm when he was injured by 1.75-inch hail, the report said.

The National Weather Service also has other reports of hail and extreme weather from the Catskills region on Wednesday:

-1.75-inch hail in Livingston Manor and DeBruce

-1-inch hail in Cooks Falls

-Trees down on houses in Davenport and East Meredith

-Trees blown down in Richmondville and Warnerville

Paroled murderer from Kingston accused of sexual abuse

By Lissa Harris
5/22/13 - 4:55 pm

A Kingston man who was arrested on Monday and charged with the sexual abuse of two girls -- one 5, one 7 -- has a long history with the law.

39-year-old Christopher Saitch, who is charged with two counts of felony sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, is a convicted murderer who was released on parole last year after nearly 15 years in prison, the Times Herald-Record reports:

Saitch pled guilty in June 1997 to taking part in the execution-style killing of Errol Parchment in Rosendale. He was released from the Livingston Correctional Facility in May 2012 and put on parole.

According to a statement from New York State troopers, police say the abuse occurred in a home in the town of Ulster, where Saitch was alone with the children. The case has been referred to A.D.A. Elizabeth Culmone of the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Bureau.  Read more

Most local school budgets pass

By Lissa Harris
5/22/13 - 2:20 pm

On Tuesday, May 21, New York State voters went to the polls to decide the fate of local school budgets and elect members to school boards.

Most budgets throughout the five-county Catskills region passed. A few were voted down, and will now have 30 days to revise their budgets and put them up for a second vote. If a school's budget is voted down twice, the school must adopt a contingency budget subject to strict caps.  Read more

Tornado warning issued for Delaware, Sullivan counties

By Lissa Harris
5/22/13 - 1:33 pm

The National Weather Service in Binghamton has issued a tornado warning for south central Delaware County and northwestern Sullivan County, effective from 1:09pm to 1:45pm.

From a message posted on NY-Alert:

At 108 PM EDT...National Weather Service Doppler Radar Indicated A Severe Thunderstorm Capable Of Producing A Tornado 9 Miles West Of Roscoe...Moving East At 25 Mph. * The Storm Capable Of Producing The Tornado Will Be Near... Roscoe By 130 PM EDT... Hazel By 135 PM EDT... Livingston Manor By 140 PM EDT... Parksville By 145 PM EDT... When You Can Do So Safely...Please Report Hail...Or Damaging Winds To The National Weather Service By Calling Toll Free At 1-888-603-1402...Or By Email At Bgm.Stormreport@Noaa.Gov.

Update: A second tornado warning was issued for Sullivan County at 1:39pm, effective til 2:15pm:  Read more

Severe thunderstorm watch issued across New York State

By Lissa Harris
5/21/13 - 1:53 pm

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has issued a severe thunderstorm watch, effective until 9pm, for 45 counties in New York State as well as northwest Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and southern Vermont.

The NWS warns that thunderstorms in the region may be accompanied by large hail -- up to two inches across - and winds of up to 70 miles per hour.

The alert was issued at 1:40pm. Included in the severe thunderstorm watch are all five counties of the Catskills region: Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster. 

A Facebook page to keep an eye on as the storms develop: Hudson Valley Weather, whose readers often submit reports of conditions on the ground when severe weather develops.

Let us know, too: Post your weather reports in a comment below, or email them to editor@watershedpost.com. (If you've got hail, send us photos!)  Read more