Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today declared a state of emergency as a major winter storm has moved from the Midwest into Western New York and the Tug Hill Plateau region of the State. The State of Emergency covers the following counties: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Monroe, Oneida, Orleans, Oswego, Wayne and Wyoming. Click here to listen to audio from the Governor’s winter storm briefing conference call.

A bitterly cold, arctic air mass brings dangerously-low temperatures and wind chills across the eastern U.S, with several areas approaching or exceeding record lows. Highs will be below 0F, with wind chill values as low as -20F to -50F. City Island Images spoke with journalists as far as the Midwest, where Indiana is reporting 10 below zero with 22 inches of snow on the ground

HERE IN NYC RAPIDLY FALLING TEMPERATURES THIS EVENING WILL CAUSE RESIDUAL
MOISTURE ON ROADWAYS TO FREEZE AND CREATE BLACK ICE. THIS WILL BE AN ISSUE ON SECONDARY ROADWAYS.

Up to Three Feet of Snow Accumulation Will Create Difficult and Dangerous Travel Conditions

Are you ready for wacky weather? Although you may not feel it yet, there are ind chill advisories, dense fog, and 30 to 50 degree swings in temperatures in the forecast.

Our region will be dealing with the coldest air in nearly twenty years. Forecasters say the local temperatures will become extremely cold as air sends the mercury tumbling from late Monday into Tuesday. In the morning temperatures will begin in the single digits to below zero.

The very first chroniclers wrote about The Epiphany, or the day the three kings arrived after the long awaited birth of Jesus Christ. They were a doctor named Luke and a tax collector known as Mathew. These historians wrote gospels that are found nowhere else. However, both confirm Joseph had descended from King David and that Mary and Joseph were engaged before the angel announced the miraculous conception of the Savior who would be named Christ, that the birth was in Bethlehem, and that the Holy Family ultimately settled in Nazareth.

This Week in History, Jan 5 - Jan 11

Jan 05, 1933
Golden Gate Bridge is born. On January 5, 1933, construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages. Following the Gold Rush boom that began in 1849, speculators realized the land north of San Francisco Bay would increase in value in direct proportion to its accessibility to the city. Soon, a plan was hatched to build a bridge that would span the Golden Gate, a narrow, 400-foot deep strait that serves as the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, connecting the San Francisco Peninsula with the southern end of Marin County.

Jan 06, 1838
Morse demonstrates telegraph. On this day in 1838, Samuel Morse's telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey. The telegraph, a device which used electric impulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, would eventually revolutionize long-distance communication, reaching the height of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s. Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born April 27, 1791, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He attended Yale University, where he was interested in art, as well as electricity, still in its infancy at the time. After college, Morse became a painter. In 1832, while sailing home from Europe, he heard about the newly discovered electromagnet and came up with an idea for an electric telegraph. He had no idea that other inventors were already at work on the concept.

Jan 07, 1789
First U.S. presidential election. On this day in 1789, America's first presidential election is held. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election and was sworn into office on April 30, 1789. As it did in 1789, the United States still uses the Electoral College system, established by the U.S. Constitution, which today gives all American citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote for electors, who in turn vote for the president. The president and vice president are the only elected federal officials chosen by the Electoral College instead of by direct popular vote.

JFK Airport was closed for a short time this morning following a Delta Connection flight, which skidded off the runway.

Airport officials have temporarily suspended flights from taking off and landing because of icy runways.

None of the 35 passengers were reported injured after Delta Connection 4100 landed this morning.

Federal Aviation Administration officials say the CRJ2 aircraft was turning off the runway onto a taxiway when it slid into the snow.