New York, 2001

Ice Storm in New York, March 12 to 13, 2001

March 12 to 13, 2001 · NWS BGM · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Low pressure moved across the western Great Lakes late on the 12th into eastern Canada on the 13th. Warm moist air moved over colder air at the surface.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
7

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 BGM wrote it up.

Low pressure moved across the western Great Lakes late on the 12th into eastern Canada on the 13th. Warm moist air moved over colder air at the surface. Precipitation fell as mostly freezing rain. Freezing rain amounts were around half an inch.

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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 12, 9:25 PM EST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 9:25 PM EST, 1 hour 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
925 PM EST MON MAR 12 2001

MID LEVEL MOISTURE SURGING IN THIS EVENING. THIS IS EVIDENT NOT ONLY
ON THE BUF SOUNDING (+8 JUST ABOVE 850 MB)...BUT THE EXPERIMENTAL
GPS WATER VAPOR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM AT SYR INDICATED THE INTEGRATED
PRECIPITABLE WATER INCREASED FROM 0.4 TO 1.2 CM IN 2 HOURS. THIS HAS
KEPT SURFACE TEMPERATURES FROM FALLING THIS EVENING...DESPITE DEW
POINTS IN THE TEENS MOST PLACES. ALSO...DESPITE THE LOW DEW POINT
DEPRESSIONS...ONLY MODERATE TEMPERATURE DROPS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED AS
THE PRECIPITATION HAS MOVED INTO WESTERN AND CENTRAL PA.  IT HAS
BEEN MORE OF A CASE OF THE DEW POINTS RISING.  MOST IMPORTANT
HOWEVER...IS THAT TERRESTRIAL (E.G. GROUND SURFACE) TEMPERATURES ARE
REMAINING WARM.  THIS REALLY LIMITS THE THREAT OF SUBSTANTIVE GLAZE
ACCRETION.

VERY IMPRESSIVE JET SURGING INTO WV THIS EVENING GENERATING AN
EXPANDING AREA OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS. RUC
AND 18Z ETA CAPTURE THIS NICELY AND TRACK IT ACROSS OUR SOUTHEAST
ZONES. THIS FOLLOWS PREVIOUS FCST THINKING AND STILL LOOKS GOOD.

TEMPS ACROSS SYR/UCA AREA ALREADY BELOW FREEZING SO FZRA A GOOD BET
THERE. HOWEVER HEAVIER PRECIP WILL STAY SOUTH OF THIS AREA SO WILL
KEEP ADVISORY THERE. ACROSS THE CENTRAL SOUTHERN TIER STILL EXPECT
SOME PATCHES OF FZRA SO WILL KEEP ADVISORY BUT WILL DOWNPLAY. SAME
IS TRUE FOR AVP AREA WHICH WILL SEE MOSTLY RAIN.  WILL DROP WARNING
THERE BUT WILL STICK WITH ADVISORY AND EMPHASIZE FZRA IN RURAL
AREAS. WILL ALSO SCALE WARNING BACK TO ADV FOR BGM/CRT/OIC AREAS.
THERE WILL BE SOME FREEZING RAIN...BUT GROUND CONDITIONS ARE JUST
TOO WARM FOR SUBSTANTIVE GLAZE ACCUMULATION.  THE POCONOS/WRN
CATSKILLS ARE A TOUGHER CALL...ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS IS WHERE THE
GREATEST QPF WILL FALL. MSV/MPO JUST HIT 32. MESONET SITES LOCH
SHELDRAKE (SULLIVAN CO) IS 30 AND SHAHOLA (PIKE) IS 33...WHILE 2
WAYNE COUNTY SITES ARE 36 AND 38. WILL STAY THE COURSE AND KEEP
WARNING GOING HERE.

.BGM...
WINTER STORM WRNG OVERNIGHT - NYZ046-057-062-PAZ040-048
WINTER WX ADVSY OVERNIGHT ALL OTHER ZONES

WALDSTREICHER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Delaware

When
March 12, 11:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Delaware forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.198, -74.966 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Madison

When
March 12, 11:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Madison forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.913, -75.670 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Northern Oneida

When
March 12, 11:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Oneida forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
43.242, -75.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Onondaga

When
March 12, 11:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Onondaga forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
43.006, -76.195 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Otsego

When
March 12, 11:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Otsego forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.634, -75.033 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Southern Oneida

When
March 12, 11:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Southern Oneida forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
43.242, -75.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Sullivan

When
March 12, 11:00 PM EST to March 13, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Sullivan forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.716, -74.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Ice Storm
Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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, March 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: 5237766, 5237767, 5237768, 5237769, 5237770, 5237771, 5237772.