New York, 2001

Heavy Snow in New York, February 22 to 23, 2001

February 22 to 23, 2001 · NWS OKX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

On Thursday February 22, a low pressure system over the southeast U. S.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

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 happened

The episode as NWS OKX wrote it up.

On Thursday February 22, a low pressure system over the southeast U. S. quickly moved northeast off the mid Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. Well north of this storm system, an overrunning pattern of mild, moist air over a pre-existing cold air mass allowed for a large area of moderate snow to develop and spread northeast into southeast New York during the afternoon hours. Although the event was relatively brief in duration, snowfall rates of one to two inches per hour were common. This created hazardous traveling conditions for the Thursday evening commute across the New York City metropolitan area and Long Island, resulting in numerous minor traffic accidents.As the low pressure system continued moving out to sea, the snow tapered off from west to east during Thursday night.Here are some specific snowfall amounts for this snow event:For Orange County: 3 inches at Middletown, to 6.5 inches at Rock Tavern.For Westchester County: 2.5 inches at Yorktown Heights, to 6 inches at Yonkers.For New York County (Manhattan): 6 inches at Central Park.For Queens County: 4 inches at John F. Kennedy International Airport, to 6 inches at Fresh Meadows.For Nassau County: 3.9 inches at Hicksville, to 6 inches at West Hempstead.

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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 22, 9:45 PM EST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 22, 9:45 PM EST, 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
945 PM EST THU FEB 22 2001

I UPDATED THE ADVISORY ACRS WRN PTNS TO A MINIMAL WARNING. I LEFT
SUFFOLK CTY NY AS AN ADVISORY. SNOW AMTS GRADUALLY CREPT UP ACRS WRN
PTNS AND AN APCHING BAND OF ENHANCED RETURNS TO THE SW COULD PUT US
INTO MINIMAL WARN TERRITORY. ALSO MADE CHANGES TO TEMPS/WINDS FOR
OVERNIGHT PD. NO CHANGES TO OTHER PDS.

MARINE...SCA RMNS UP.

.OKX...
CT...NONE.
NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 AM...NJZ003>006-011.
NY...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 AM...NYZ071>077.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM...NYZ078>081.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ANZ355-353-350.

EKH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, New York (Manhattan)

When
February 22, 10:30 PM EST
Where
New York (Manhattan) forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.774, -73.970 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bronx

When
February 22, 10:30 PM EST
Where
Bronx forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.827, -73.924 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Richmond (Staten Is.)

When
February 22, 10:30 PM EST
Where
Richmond (Staten Is.) forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.583, -74.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kings (Brooklyn)

When
February 22, 10:30 PM EST
Where
Kings (Brooklyn) forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.634, -73.950 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Queens

When
February 22, 10:30 PM EST
Where
Queens forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Southern Westchester

When
February 22, 11:30 PM EST
Where
Southern Westchester forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.152, -73.753 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Nassau

When
February 22, 11:30 PM EST
Where
Nassau forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Orange

When
February 23, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Orange forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.402, -74.306 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New York in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, February 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: 5233515, 5233516, 5233517, 5233518, 5233519, 5233514, 5233520, 5233521.