SARANAC LAKE – Saranac Lake schools and North Country Community College closed Wednesday due to hazardous road conditions as a result of icy roads and windy conditions.

“The roads are icing over with the wind, cold and wetness,” said, Nancy Whitston, confidnential secretary to the superintendent of the Saranac Lake Central School District. “The roads aren’t safe.”

Saranac Lake school officials canceled classes after consulting with town and highway officials as well as officials from the district’s bus garage.

“The College will be closed today, Wednesday, due to the weather system that moved into the area this morning,” NCCC President Steve Tyrell wrote in an email to faculty this morning. “It is advised to stay off the roads this morning as freezing rain has created hazardous road conditions in various parts of the North Country region.”

Lake Placid and Tupper Lake schools were on a two-hour delay due to the weather conditions. Temperatures in Saranac Lake dropped from 40 degrees before 5 a.m. this morning to between 20 and 25 degrees just two hours later. Wind gusts were recorded over 40 miles per hour during that time. Precipitation was light as rain transitioned to snow after 5 a.m.