Winter Storm in New York, March 5 to 6, 2001

A large storm center formed off the mid Atlantic coast on the morning of March 5. The low proceeded slowly to the north, off the DelMarVa peninsula, then the coast of New Jersey, and reached just south of central Long Island by late in the day. During the overnight hours, a strong upper level disturbance, diving south from the eastern Great Lakes, added energy to the storm and forced it to temporarily track to the west and nearly stall near New York city. The cyclone pulled southeast away from Long Island later on March 6. This storm became the biggest nor'easter of the winter season as it produced an extended period of moderate to heavy snow, starting late Sunday night and not completely ending until the following Tuesday evening. In fact, in many places across eastern New York, this was the heaviest snowfall since the Blizzard of 93. Some sleet, and even freezing rain mixed in for a while Monday, from Albany southward. However the bulk of the preciptation fell as snow. The heaviest snow fell overnight from March 5th to the 6th, when 2 to 3 inch/hour snowfall rates were observed in many places. After the two day snowstorm was finished, a general one to two feet of snow blanketed the region, with a noteworthy band of even heavier amounts across the Lake George Saratoga region, westward into the Mohawk Valley, as well as across the western Adirondacks. Specific snowfall amounts included 17.1 inches officially at Albany. This was the 5th greatest snowstorm in March history. In Columbia county, East Chatham reported 16.1 inches. Millbrook in Dutchess County had 10.3 while New Paltz in Ulster County accumulated 17. Much heavier amounts included Gloversville with 25.2 inches, and Northville with 22, both located in Fulton County. In western Greene County, 25 inches fell at Prattsville and 26 at Windham. The city of Saratoga Springs was buried with 26 inches while Bolton Landing, Warren County, had 28 inches. The highest storm total was Whitehall in Washington County with a storm total of 29.8 inches! The storm virtually shut the school system down for two days and disrupted most businesses. While the Albany International Airport was never officially closed, more than 100 flights were cancelled during the two day storm. Since the storm struck early, and was well forecast, N.Y.D.O.T. crews were able to keep major roadways open. Many people heeded the warnings, and remained off the roads, which actually led to an unsual paucity of weather related accidents. Very few, if any, power outages were reported. Two factors made the ardous snowfall removal a bit easier. First, temperatures rose slightly above freezing after the storm. Second, there was a limited amount of wind. Some wind at the storm's departure, did produce blowing and little drifting of the snow, mainly in outlying regions. However, the magnitude of wind fell well short of blizzard criteria.