TL;DR: Yonkers Middle High School closed Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, after a weekend nor'easter toppled a tree that destroyed its building-scale transformer, and Con Edison is bridging the gap with a temporary generator while a crane-assisted replacement continues.

School closure announced for Monday with Tuesday reopening planned

Yonkers Public Schools announced on Facebook that Yonkers Middle High School would be closed Monday because of a power outage tied to the weekend storm, according to News 12.

Officials said the school will open normally on Tuesday, according to News 12.

The report by Greg Thompson was published Sept. 28, 2026, at 6:49 p.m., according to News 12.

The closure notice identified the cause as storm impacts from the weekend rather than a problem inside classrooms, according to News 12.

A neighborhood message recapping the district notice said power had been restored to Yonkers Middle High School and the school will reopen and return to a normal class schedule Tuesday, September 29, according to Inside Yonkers reporting on Threads.

The district message thanked families for patience as Con Edison repaired storm damage in the neighborhood, according to Inside Yonkers reporting on Threads.

For preparedness planning, the key lesson is a single-point electrical failure closed an entire occupied building even though the damage occurred Sunday and classes were not scheduled until Monday, according to News 12.

Tree fell early Sunday and cut power to the whole building

Con Edison workers at the scene told News 12 that a tree fell early Sunday morning, knocking out power to the entire school.

The workers spoke to News 12 at the repair site while restoration work continued.

The fallen tree damaged electrical equipment that supplied the full building, according to News 12.

A Con Edison spokesperson said crews continue working to restore power to the school that had equipment damaged during this weekend's nor'easter, according to News 12.

The spokesperson said, “We will be providing the school with temporary power as our crews work as quickly and safely as possible to make permanent repairs,” according to News 12.

That statement frames the event as equipment damage from the nor'easter, temporary power as the bridge, and permanent repairs as a separate follow-on task, according to News 12.

Families tracking similar school outages should treat “building without power” as a closure trigger even when surrounding streets appear normal, because this outage affected the entire school facility, according to News 12.

Why this repair could not be finished before Monday morning

Despite the time between when the tree fell early Sunday and when classes were scheduled to begin Monday, workers said several factors complicated the repair, according to News 12.

First, the tree and transformer were located in an awkward area along Hillcrest Avenue, away from the road, adding time and effort to the work, according to News 12.

Access away from the roadway meant crews could not simply pull up and replace parts at the curb, according to News 12.

Second, because it supplied power to the entire building, the transformer was larger than a standard unit, according to News 12.

Workers said it was the largest transformer in Con Edison's distribution system, according to News 12.

That size distinction matters for households building outage expectations: larger commercial and institutional transformers require different handling than pole-top residential units, according to News 12.

A large crane will be needed to replace it, a process workers said could take several days, according to News 12.

In other words, the permanent fix was measured in days, not hours, at the time workers described it to News 12.

That timeline explains why district officials moved to closure and temporary power rather than waiting for a same-day permanent repair, according to News 12.

Temporary generator plan for the school

In the meantime, crews were connecting a large generator to provide temporary power to the school, according to News 12.

They expected it to be operational at some point Monday, according to News 12.

The generator was intended to supply the school while crews pursued permanent repairs, according to News 12.

The Con Edison spokesperson said the company will be providing the school with temporary power, according to News 12.

The spokesperson also emphasized crews would work as quickly and safely as possible to make permanent repairs, according to News 12.

For emergency planners, the sequence is instructive: temporary generation first, then crane work and full replacement, according to News 12.

Residents should not interpret a generator hookup as completion of the utility repair, because the company separately described permanent repairs as still in progress, according to News 12.

Weekend nor'easter set the conditions in Yonkers

A nor'easter moving up the East Coast was expected to bring periods of heavy rain, strong winds and coastal flooding concerns to Yonkers and surrounding parts of Westchester County through the weekend, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

In advance of the storm, the weekend McLean Avenue festival was postponed, as was the Tour de Yonkers, the annual bicycle ride, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

The National Weather Service issued a Wind Advisory for Yonkers from Friday afternoon through early Sunday, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

Forecasts called for northeast winds of approximately 20 to 25 mph, with gusts potentially reaching 55 mph, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

Current forecasts called for roughly 1 to 2 inches of rainfall in the Yonkers area through the weekend, although totals could vary depending on the storm's track, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

Coastal flooding was another concern, particularly in vulnerable waterfront and low-lying areas, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

A Coastal Flood Advisory was in effect for portions of southern Westchester, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

Officials warned that water levels could rise along the Hudson River and other vulnerable locations during high tide, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for Westchester County, New York City and Long Island ahead of the storm, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

What else failed in Yonkers during the storm

The storm knocked out power for more than 100 customers in the Crestwood section of Yonkers after two trees fell and brought down utility poles, along with wires and transformers, according to Con Edison as reported in News 12 live updates.

A large tree branch came down across Broadway in Yonkers, while branches were scattered along roadways in Hastings-on-Hudson, according to News 12 live updates.

High tide along the Hudson River also led to flooding at the Dobbs Ferry waterfront, where stairs leading to the river were nearly submerged, according to News 12 live updates.

Yonkers fire officials told News 12 they responded to 13 calls for downed wires and six reports of sparking transformers over the last day as crews worked to address storm-related damage.

One resident described a loud failure when power was lost, saying, “It definitely was a windy storm, but there was a bang, and then it went black,” according to News 12 live updates.

Con Ed told News 12 that 196 customers in Yonkers were still experiencing outages Saturday afternoon and hoped to restore power to all customers by 6 p.m., according to News 12 live updates.

More than 900 customers in Yonkers were experiencing outages earlier Saturday according to an outage map on the Con Ed website, according to News 12 live updates.

The city released a social media post Friday afternoon with storm safety tips, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

The Yonkers Police Department maintains an alert system for extreme weather, traffic disruptions and road closures, while the city's Department of Public Works is responsible for responding to weather-related impacts on roads and other city infrastructure, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

Regional outage scale across utilities

Since the nor'easter began on Friday, Con Edison had restored outages to 21,139 customers across NYC and Westchester County as of Sept. 27 at 12:52 p.m., according to News 12 live updates.

Westchester County currently had 1,152 customers without power at that time, according to News 12 live updates.

Brooklyn had 67 customers without power at the same reporting time, according to a News 12 Brooklyn live update.

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. restored power to more than 20,000 customers, with around 3,000 customers still without power, according to News 12 live updates.

Power was restored to more than 24,000 Central Hudson customers in the wake of the nor'easter, according to Central Hudson as reported in News 12 live updates.

Central Hudson crews were still at work to restore power to about 900 storm-impacted customers across Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Ulster counties as of Sunday night, according to Central Hudson as reported in News 12 live updates.

Central Hudson said it expects to restore power to the remaining customers by midday Monday, according to News 12 live updates.

Customers who rely on electricity to operate life-sustaining equipment were encouraged to call customer service at 845-452-2700, according to Central Hudson as reported in News 12 live updates.

Utility safety guidance issued during the outage period

Central Hudson advised residents to use extreme caution around downed power lines, stay at least 30 feet away and assume any downed power line is live, according to News 12 live updates.

Con Edison also reminded customers that lines may be entangled in or hidden by fallen limbs, according to News 12 live updates.

Central Hudson reminded customers to never use kitchen stoves or outdoor gas or charcoal grills indoors because of fire risk and carbon monoxide, according to News 12 live updates.

Customers were advised to avoid opening the refrigerator unnecessarily during an outage so food stays cold longer, according to News 12 live updates.

The utility advised impacted customers to use flashlights or battery-powered lights instead of candles because candles pose a fire risk, according to News 12 live updates.

Customers were advised to visit centralHudson.com/alerts or text REG to 236483 to enroll in alerts, according to News 12 live updates.

Customers could also visit centralhudson.com/storms to report outages and receive restoration updates, according to News 12 live updates.

Customers could also download the free Central Hudson app for Android or Apple devices at www.cenhud.com/mobileapp, according to News 12 live updates.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority prepared for the storm with personnel monitoring conditions for potential weather-related disruptions, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

No specific Metro-North cancellation affecting Yonkers had been announced as of Friday afternoon, according to The Yonkers Ledger.

Sources referenced