Heavy Snow in New York, December 25 to 26, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in New York, December 25 to 26, 2002
Start: 2002-12-25T16:00
End: 2002-12-26T02:00
Location: New York

December 25 to 26, 2002 · NWS OKX · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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: 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 Tuesday, December 24th, an area of low pressure began to develop over the Gulf coast states. That night, the storm intensified as it moved northeast, reaching the Virginia coastline by daybreak on December 25th. Around this time, spotty drizzle and light rain began to overspread the New York Metropolitan area and Long Island, while light freezing rain and freezing drizzle started to fall across the lower Hudson Valley. As the morning progressed, the center of low pressure started to track northeast over the Atlantic along a path that hugged the coast. As a result, a steady rain developed over New York City and Long Island, while freezing rain began to mix with sleet and snow in the lower Hudson Valley. As the storm started to move east of the tri-state area, winds shifted from the east and northeast to the north or northwest. This allowed colder air to slowly infiltrate southeastern New York. The wintry mix changed to snow in the lower Hudson Valley during the early afternoon, and the rain changed to snow during the mid afternoon in New York City and during the late afternoon across all of Long Island except for the twin forks region where the rain did not change to snow until that evening. During the late afternoon and early evening, narrow bands of heavy snow developed and moved over parts of the region, which resulted in large ranges of snowfall with this storm. As the center of the storm continued to move northeast away from the area, the snow then tapered off to light snow and flurries overnight, ending shortly after midnight in the lower Hudson Valley and New York City, and from west to east between about 2 am and 4 am across Long Island. Snowfall amounts in Orange and Putnam counties ranged from 10 to 20 inches, 6 to 12 inches fell in Rockland and Westchester counties, and 3 to 6 inches in New York City, except for an area across the eastern Bronx and northeastern Queens, where 6 to 10 inches fell. On Long Island, 6 to 12 inches fell in Nassau and Western Suffolk counties, while across eastern Suffolk amounts ranged from less than an inch across the twin forks to 2 to 4 inches just west of Riverhead. The wide ranges of snowfall were generally due to narrow banding of heavy snow, but across Long Island the timing of the change from rain to snow also accounted for the pronounced differential of snow received.

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 Dec 25, 3:45 PM EST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 25, 3:45 PM EST, 15 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 25, 7:00 AM EST, 9 hours before

CTZ005>012-NJZ002>006-011-NYZ067>081-261700-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
700 AM EST WED DEC 25 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST NEW YORK...
NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA WILL INTENSIFY
RAPIDLY INTO A VERY STRONG NOREASTER JUST OFF THE SOUTHERN NEW
JERSEY COAST TODAY.

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY OF
NEW YORK...EXTREME NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND INTERIOR SOUTHERN
CONNECTICUT.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE REST OF THE FORECAST
AREA.

A WIND ADVISORY IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE FORECAST AREA. AS THIS
STORM DEEPENS...WINDS WILL STEADILY INCREASE AS THE DAY PROGRESSES.
NORTHEASTERLY WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO AROUND 50 MPH
ARE EXPECTED FROM MID AFTERNOON HOURS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS.

PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE STORM WILL CONTINUE TO OVERSPREAD
THE REGION AND WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
INLAND...IT WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW THROUGH THE EVENT.
HOWEVER...WARMER AIR WILL GET WRAPPED UP IN THE STORM...SO IT IS
POSSIBLE SOME RAIN AND OR SLEET MAY MIX IN WITH THE SNOW AT TIMES
FRO A PERIOD THIS AFTERNOON.

ALONG THE COASTAL CONNECTICUT AND JUST NORTH AND WEST OF NEW YORK
CITY...SNOW WILL MIX WITH AND OR CHANGE TO RAIN...THEN CHANGE BACK
TO ALL SNOW BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

FOR NEW YORK CITY AND LONG ISLAND...RAIN WILL MIX WITH THEN CHANGE
TO SNOW BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

AS THE NOREASTER BEGINS TO MOVE TO OUR EAST LATE IN THE DAY COLDER
AIR WILL BE DRAWN IN RESULTING IN ALL SNOW. THE SNOW WILL TAPER
AROUND MIDNIGHT ACROSS NEW YORK CITY...THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY OF
NEW YORK AND NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND AFTER MIDNIGHT ACROSS LONG
ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL VARY FROM 2 TO 4 INCHES ACROSS LONG
ISLAND AND NEW YORK CITY TO UP TO A FOOT POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF
THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND INTERIOR SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT.

MINOR COASTAL FLOODING IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH TIDAL DEPARTURES OF 2
TO 3 FEET EXPECTED.

GALE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL WATERS AND SHOULD BE INTO THURSDAY
MORNING WITH STORM FORCE GUSTS POSSIBLE THIS EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS PLEASE CALL IN SNOWFALL REPORTS TODAY AND TONIGHT. ALSO,
REPORTS OF ANY CHANGE IN PRECIPITATION TYPE WOULD ALSO BE VERY
HELPFUL.

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: December 25, 4:00 PM EST to December 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Orange forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.402, -74.306 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Putnam

When: December 25, 7:00 PM EST to December 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Putnam forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.427, -73.749 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Rockland

When: December 25, 7:30 PM EST to December 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Rockland forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.152, -74.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Queens

When: December 25, 7:30 PM EST to December 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Queens forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Northern Westchester

When: December 25, 8:00 PM EST to December 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Westchester forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.152, -73.753 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Westchester

When: December 25, 8:00 PM EST to December 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Westchester forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.152, -73.753 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bronx

When: December 25, 8:00 PM EST to December 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Bronx forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.827, -73.924 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Nassau

When: December 25, 8:00 PM EST to December 26, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Nassau forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Northwest Suffolk

When: December 25, 9:30 PM EST to December 26, 2:00 AM EST
Where: Northwest Suffolk forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.941, -72.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southwest Suffolk

When: December 25, 10:00 PM EST to December 26, 2:00 AM EST
Where: Southwest Suffolk forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
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

Every storm in New York in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, December 2002

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5325412, 5325413, 5325414, 5325418, 5325415, 5325416, 5325417, 5325419, 5325420, 5325421.