New York, 2001

Heavy Snow in New York, February 5, 2001

February 5, 2001 · NWS OKX · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

On Monday February 5th, a developing low pressure system off the North Carolina coast moved northeast to a position off eastern Long Island by Monday evening. The storm then moved off the New England coast by early Tuesday.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

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 Monday February 5th, a developing low pressure system off the North Carolina coast moved northeast to a position off eastern Long Island by Monday evening. The storm then moved off the New England coast by early Tuesday. The storm spread a swath of rain and wet snow across southeast New York during early Monday. As the low rapidly intensified, colder air was entrained into the storm system. This changed the rain into heavy wet snow by early Monday afternoon across central and eastern Long Island. In addition, another band of heavy wet snow affected portions of the lower Hudson Valley through the afternoon hours. This second band of snow then moved east and produced additional snow across portions of the New York City area and Long Island into Monday evening, before the snow tapered off from west to east during Monday night.Due to the rapid rate at which the snow fell, hazardous travel resulted across much of the New York City area and Long Island for the Monday evening commute. Here are some specific snowfall totals for this snow event:For Orange County: 12 inches at Walden and Newburgh, to 22 inches at Monroe.For Putnam County: 9 inches at Carmel, to 12 inches at Putnam Valley.For Rockland County: 8 inches at New City and Mounty Ivy, to 14 inches at Suffern.For Westchester County: 6.7 inches at New Rochelle, to 13 inches at Yorktown Heights.Across the New York City area: 2 inches at John F. Kennedy International Airport, to 3.5 inches at Central Park, and 4.0 inches at Middle Village in Queens.For Nassau County: 3 inches at Garden City, to 6 inches at Great Neck and Plainview.For Suffolk County: 2 inches at Mattituck, to 8 inches at Calverton.

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 5, 12:29 PM EST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 12:29 PM EST, 1 hour 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
1229 PM EST MON FEB 5 2001

UPDT FORTHCOMING IN NEXT 10 MIN TO UPGRADE TWIN FORMS OF LI TO WS
WRNG.  CHG TO SN JUST ABT ENTIRE AREA XCP RIGHT ALG S SHORE LI AND
THAT SHUD FINISH UP NEXT HR OR SO.  WL BUMP UP AMTS ERN LI TO 4 TO 7
OR SO.  SUM REALLY BIG SNOWFLAKES OUT THERE...ALREADY AN INCH PLUS
HERE AT KOKX...

UPDTD ZFP/RDF/WSW WIBIS ASAP!

F.Y.I.  KOKX SPECIAL UA RUN IN PROGRESS.  T850 ARND -1.0C.  MSG AVBL
ARND 1800Z OR SO.

.OKX...
CT...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES CTZ005>012.

NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES NJZ002>006-011.

NY...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES NYZ067>081.

.MARINE...GLW ALL WATERS...ANZ330-335-350-353-355-338.

REYNOLDS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Orange

When
February 5, 1:30 PM EST
Where
Orange forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.402, -74.306 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Putnam

When
February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where
Putnam forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.427, -73.749 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Rockland

When
February 5, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Rockland forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.152, -74.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Westchester

When
February 5, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Westchester forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.152, -73.753 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Westchester

When
February 5, 7:00 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, Northeast Suffolk

When
February 5, 7:30 PM EST
Where
Northeast Suffolk forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Nassau

When
February 5, 8:00 PM EST
Where
Nassau forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Southeast Suffolk

When
February 5, 8:00 PM EST
Where
Southeast Suffolk forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northwest Suffolk

When
February 5, 9:00 PM EST
Where
Northwest Suffolk forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southwest Suffolk

When
February 5, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Southwest Suffolk forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.941, -72.685 (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: 5233492, 5233493, 5233494, 5233495, 5233496, 5233499, 5233497, 5233501, 5233498, 5233500.