Heavy Snow in New York, March 4 to 5, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in New York, March 4 to 5, 2002
Start: 2002-03-04T06:40
End: 2002-03-05T06:50
Location: New York

March 4 to 5, 2002 · NWS BUF · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: $65,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 BUF wrote it up.

Cold air crossing the relatively warm, unfrozen waters of Lakes Erie and Ontario produced lake effect snows. Off Lake Erie, snow showers and squalls began Sunday evening (3rd) and focused over the western southern tier counties with overnight accumulations around a foot. The band held together close to the lake through most of the daylight hours of the 4th, despite the strong March sun. The band intensified during the evening as it drifted north into central Erie County. Six to fourteen inches of snow fell over the southern suburbs of Buffalo between 9PM Monday and 6AM Tuesday. Specific amounts included: Arkwright 23"; Sherman 22"; Perrysburg 21"; South Dayton and Hamburg 14"; Dunkirk and Sinclairville 12"; Westfield and West Seneca 10"; Warsaw 9"; Orchard Park 8"; Franklinville and Colden 7"; and Angelica 6". Off Lake Ontario, a strong single band developed over Oswego and Lewis Counties. The band meandered little so some areas got over a foot. The band drifted south briefly dropping over a half a foot over northern Cayuga County. Specific amounts reported: North Osceola 14"; Highmarket 12"; Oswego 11" and Martville 7".

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 Buffalo, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 4:30 AM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 4:30 AM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
430 AM EST MON MAR 4 2002

LAKE EFFECT SNOWS CONTINUE OFF LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO TODAY.

OFF ERIE...IMPRESSIVE SINGLE PLUME ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF THE LAKE
EXTENDS ACROSS THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTHERN TIER. SPARSE
OVERNIGHT SNOWFALL REPORTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR OVER PARTS OF
CHAUTAUQUA AND CATTARAGUS COUNTIES. HAVE DECIDED TO EXTEND THE
WRNGS/ADV PAST THE MORNING HOURS TODAY. WHILE MARCH SUN WILL ATTEMPT
TO BREAK UP THE ACTIVITY SEVERAL FACTORS WILL WORK TO SUSTAIN THE
SNOWS. THESE BEING THE PASSAGE OF THE 7H TROF TODAY, OMEGA MAX
BETWEEN 12-18Z, INVERSION UP AROUND 8KFT, A LOW SHEAR ENVIRONMENT AND
850 TEMPS OF -18/-20 RESULTING IN MODERATE/EXTREME INSTABILITY
THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

OFF LAKE ONTARIO THE LAKE EFFECT PLUME IS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP WITH
SIMILAR CONDITIONS AS OFF LAKE ERIE...ONLY A FEW HOURS LATER. A BIT
MORE SHEAR PRESENT, BUT STILL MODERATE/EXTREME INSTABILITY AND DELTA
TS OF 20-25.

DIURNAL CONVECTION WILL PROBABLY RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS ACROSS
THE CWA IN ADDITION TO MORPHING PLUMES INTO A MORE CELLULAR NATURE.

CLIPPER RACING ACROSS SRN ONTARIO BRINGS WINDS AROUND TO THE
SOUTHWEST OVERNIGHT LIFTING/WEAKENING LAKE SNOWS. MODELS NOT SURE HOW
TO HANDLE THIS SYSTEM WITH DIFFERENCES IN STRENGTH AND MOISTURE.
STILL EXPECT SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY SNOW ACROSS THE REGION WITH SMALL
ACCUMULATIONS.

PCPN AHEAD OF APPROACHING WARM FRONT WILL HOLD OFF TIL TUES NIGHT.

.BUF...LAKE EFF SNOW WRNG NYZ005-006-019-020
       LAKE EFF SNOW ADVIS NYZ008-010(S)-012.

RSH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cattaraugus

When: March 4, 6:40 AM EST
Where: Cattaraugus forecast zone
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.249, -78.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Oswego

When: March 4, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Oswego forecast zone
Property damage: $12,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.464, -76.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Chautauqua

When: March 4, 8:17 AM EST
Where: Chautauqua forecast zone
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.303, -79.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Cayuga

When: March 4, 2:17 PM EST
Where: Northern Cayuga forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.010, -76.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lewis

When: March 4, 10:25 PM EST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Property damage: $8,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.785, -75.449 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Erie

When: March 5, 6:50 AM EST
Where: Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.758, -78.780 (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, March 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5285353, 5285354, 5285355, 5285356, 5285357, 5285358.