Heavy Snow in New York, March 9, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in New York, March 9, 2001
Start: 2001-03-09T03:00
End: 2001-03-09T20:00
Location: New York

March 9, 2001 · NWS BGM · 15 events in 15 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 15 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: 15

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.

On March 9th, low pressure located in northern Pennsylvania on a north to south front tracked east to southern New England on the 10th. Steady snow moved in ahead of the intensifying storm on the morning of the 9th. Bands of heavy snow dropped 2 to 3 inches per hour. The heavy snow lasted 1 to 3 hours mainly between 6 AM and noon on the 9th. Snowfall totals were 4 to 10 inches. Some higher amounts occurred across the western Mohawk Valley and in the northern Catskills. Moisture from Lake Ontario helped increase the snow amounts in the Mohawk Valley. The snow ended from southwest to northeast starting around noon.

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 9, 1:58 AM EST, 1 hour 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 1:58 AM EST, 1 hour 2 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
158 AM EST FRI MAR 9 2001

ETA AND MESO-ETA SEEM TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE DEVELOPING SITUATION. SHORT
WAVE ROTATING AROUND CLOSED 500MB LOW IS DRIVING SECONDARY SFC LOW DEVELOPMENT
INLAND OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC COAST. CURRENT RADAR IMAGES SHOWS PCPN TO BE
QUITE CELLULAR AND CONVECTIVE LOOKING BUT LOOPS SHOW THE AREA FILLING IN AND
EXPECT THE SHOWERS TO CONTINUE AN EVOLUTION INTO A COHESIVE SHIELD.

THE BEST CYCLOGENESIS WILL HOLD OFF UNTIL THIS AFTERNOON AS ENERGY SHIFTS TO A
POSITION OFF THE SRN NEW ENGLAND COAST. UNTIL THEN...EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE
AREA FROM I81 EASTWARD WILL SEE GOOD LIFT UNDER A DEFORMATION ZONE THAT PIVOTS
OVER THE REGION. CURRENT CONFIGURATION OF THE WARNING AND ADVISORY AREAS LOOKS
TO BE RIGHT ON SO DO NOT PLAN TO MESS WITH IT. HOWEVER...THERE IS THE CONCERN
THAT MESOSCALE BANDS IN THE DEFORMATION ZONE MAY LEAD TO LOCALLY HIGHER
ACCUMULATIONS. WILL STAY WITH GENERAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BUT EXTEND THE UPPER
RANGE A BIT TO COVER THE LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. TEMPS ARE RELATIVELY WARM AND
WITH STRENGTHENING MARCH SUN EXPECT SOME MELTING TO KEEP ACCUMS FROM GETTING
OUT OF CONTROL.

SYSTEM WINDS UP OVER SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND BEFORE PULLING AWAY SATURDAY MORNING.
COLD AIR MOVING IN ON THE BACK SIDE IS NOT ALL THAT IMPRESSIVE...HOWEVER SHEAR
IS MINIMAL AND WILL COMBINE WITH WRAP AROUND MOISTURE AND SHORT WAVE ENERGY
ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW TO BRING SOME SHOWERY LES/LAKE ENHANCED PCPN TO
THE REGION INTO SATURDAY MORNING BEFORE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT CAN MOVE IN
DURING THE AFTERNOON. NEXT SYSTEM ROLLS IN LATE SATURDAY NIGHT WITH A CHANCE OF
PCPN BY DAYBREAK SUNDAY.

LACKING SIGNIFICANT CAA AND DVM DO NOT EXPECT GOOD MOMENTUM TRANSFER TO THE SFC
SO WINDS SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM WITH THIS EVENT.

MOS TEMPS SEEM REASDONABLE SO WILL STAY CLOSE.

WORK ZONES SOON.

.BGM...
WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY NYZ009-036-037-045-046-057-062
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY NYZ018-044-056-PAZ039-040-048

SPORER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Broome

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Broome forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.160, -75.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Chemung

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Chemung forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.141, -76.760 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Chenango

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Chenango forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.494, -75.612 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Cortland

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Cortland forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.595, -76.070 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Delaware

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.198, -74.966 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Madison

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.913, -75.670 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Oneida

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Oneida forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.242, -75.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Onondaga

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Onondaga forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.006, -76.195 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Otsego

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Otsego forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.634, -75.033 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Schuyler

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Schuyler forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.394, -76.875 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Cayuga

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Cayuga forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.010, -76.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Oneida

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Oneida forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.242, -75.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Steuben

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Steuben forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.268, -77.384 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sullivan

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Sullivan forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.716, -74.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Tompkins

When: March 9, 3:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Tompkins forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.452, -76.474 (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

Every storm in New York in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5237634, 5237635, 5237636, 5237637, 5237638, 5237639, 5237640, 5237641, 5237642, 5237643, 5237644, 5237645, 5237646, 5237647, 5237648.