Lake-Effect Snow in New York, December 29 to 31, 2001

Name: Lake-Effect Snow in New York, December 29 to 31, 2001
Start: 2001-12-29T04:00
End: 2001-12-31T23:59
Location: New York

December 29 to 31, 2001 · NWS ALY · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lake-effect snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 29, 2:45 AM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 29, 2:45 AM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
245 AM EST SAT DEC 29 2001

.DISC...STEADY STATE BND OFF LK ONT THIS MRNG CONTS TO IMPACT WRN
ADIRONDACKS. RDR RTRNS FREQUENTLY IN 25-30 DBZ RNG WHICH WLD SUPPORT
1 TO 2 INCH PER HR RATES. THIS IS SUPPORTED BY SAT PCPN EST AS WELL
AS GRND TRUTH WITH A RPT OF 1 INCH PER HR FM OLD FORGE. IN ADDITION
ACTUAL SNOWFALL LIKELY A LTL HEAVIER THAN RDR INDICATES OVR NE HERK
AND HAM CTYS AS RDR BEAM FM KTYX LIKELY OVERSHOOTING SOM SNW.
GEM...MM5 AND BUFKIT ETA SNDGS ALL INDICATE BND SHLD RMN STEADY
STATE DURG RMNDR OF OVRNGHT HRS...MDLS THEN DIFFER ON SAT SCENARIO
WITH GEM AND MM5 LIFTING BND A LTL FRTHR N FM CURRENT PSTN AND ETA
LIFTING BND WELL UP INTO ST LAWRENCE CTY. WL OPT FOR GEM/MM5
SCENARIO WHICH WL LIFT BND INTO EXTRM NRN HERK AND HAMILTON CTYS
THIS MRNG THEN BND RTRNS TO PSTN A LTL FRTHR S THAN CURRENT PSTN
THIS EVENING AND RMNS STEADY STATE DURG MCH OF SAT NGHT. WITH
INVERSION RMNG ABV 9 KFT MCH OF PD...VRY LTL SHEAR AND INSTABILITY
RMNG IN MOD TO EXTREME CAT THRU TNGHT WL LEAVE LK EFFECT SNOW WRNG
IN PLC. ACTVTY SHLD DIMINISH ON SUN AS SHR INCRS...WL GO WITH CHC
POPS FOR NOW. WL LEAVE SNWFALL AMTS SAME AS PER UPDATE. OUTSIDE OF
ONT BND WL HAV AN AREA OF CHC POPS AS SOM SCT S- OR S-- PSBL FM LK
ERIE BND AND ALSO ENHANCEMENT FM VORT ROTATING THRU CNTRL AND ERN NY
LATE MRNG AND ERLY AFT.

NO CHNGS MADE TO XTND FORECAST.

.ALY...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT NYZ032-033.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lake-effect snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Lake-Effect Snow, Northern Herkimer

When: December 29, 4:00 AM EST to December 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Northern Herkimer forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.420, -74.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Low pressure, anchored to the east of James Bay in Canada, circulated a persistant westerly fetch of polar air during the end of December. This air blew downwind of Lake Ontario, picking up moisture off the relatively warm lake waters which resulted in lake effect snow. By late Friday evening, the lake bands shifted so that the snow plume reached the western Adirondacks of northern Herkimer County. Disturbances enhanced t he snow band, producing hard bursts of snow at times. Stillwater Reservoir reported 26 inches of new snowfall from Friday evening through Monday.

What these are

Lake-Effect Snow: Heavy snow in bands downwind of a large lake as cold air crosses warmer water.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New York in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, December 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5274599.