While the Capital Region was spared the worst of Tuesday's severe weather, downstate wasn't as fortunate.

Downed trees forced temporary suspension of all commuter train service out of Grand Central station in New York City, and Amtrak's website showed several trains stopped between Albany and New York's Penn Station.

"Some of the service is being placed on hold because of the severe weather," an Amtrak tweet said.

Late Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency in Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Sullivan counties. He said he deployed 125 New York National Guard members to assist with recovery work. A travel advisory was issued for counties under the emergency order.

State and local personnel are clearing roads and railways, Cuomo said in a pres release.

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor was briefly shut down but services resumed by 6:10 p.m., although trains were moving slowly and passengers faced delays.

Trees downed by the strong winds also blocked traffic. The Berkshire Connector on I-90 westbound was closed between the Massachussetts state line and Exit B3 where debris is down.

Heading southbound on I-87, Exit 18 in New Paltz was also closed because of debris in the roadway. Also closed is Route 212 in Saugerties in both directions.

Meanwhile, the severe weather caused numerous flight disruptions at Albany International Airport as well as at least one diversion to Albany of a flight from Rochester to Newark.

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At the airport, at least six afternoon and evening departures — to Baltimore, Boston, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, and two to Philadelphia — were canceled, while others were delayed as the severe weather moved through the Catskills and lower Hudson Valley. While tornado watches that extended even into the Capital Region were lifted by early evening, in areas to the south and east of Albany, there was at least one report in late afternoon of a funnel cloud and hail as large as baseballs.

Lightning flashed over the region late Tuesday morning but it was later in the afternoon that most of the severe weather hit eastern upstate New York.

The sporadic storms that passed through the region during the morning were packing modest wind gusts, the National Weather Service said, but they were not nearly as powerful as the gusts that accompanied the afternoon action.

Schenectady and Albany counties were hit with power outages earlier in the evening, but as of 7:10 p.m. less than 800 Albany County residents were without power. Outages were much more widespread further south of the Capital Region Tuesday evening.

Temperatures were forecast to reach around 75 degrees with a light breeze before the storms. Rainfall totals could reach half an inch, causing minor flooding in low-lying areas.

Sunshine is ahead for Wednesday and temperatures in the 80s on Thursday.