Heavy Snow, Oswego
- When
- December 4, 9:00 PM EST to December 5, 10:30 AM EST
- Where
- Oswego forecast zone
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.464, -76.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in New York, December 4 to 5, 2005
Westerly winds lined up in the lower levels off Lake Ontario and snowbands set up during the afternoon of the 4th. The activity remained pretty much steady state across northern Oswego and southern Lewis counties through most of the night.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
Westerly winds lined up in the lower levels off Lake Ontario and snowbands set up during the afternoon of the 4th. The activity remained pretty much steady state across northern Oswego and southern Lewis counties through most of the night. Twelve to sixteen inches fell in a ten mile wide area focusing on far northern Oswego county and the Tug Hill of Lewis county. Redfield reported 16 inches, Highmarket 14" and North Osceola 13".
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 Dec 4, 6:10 PM EST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 6:10 PM EST, 2 hours 50 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 4, 4:45 AM EST, 16 hours 15 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 445 AM EST SUN DEC 4 2005 NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021-085-050945- NIAGARA-ORLEANS-MONROE-WAYNE-NORTHERN CAYUGA-OSWEGO-JEFFERSON- LEWIS-NORTHERN ERIE-GENESEE-WYOMING-LIVINGSTON-ONTARIO-CHAUTAUQUA- CATTARAUGUS-ALLEGANY-SOUTHERN ERIE- 445 AM EST SUN DEC 4 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEW YORK AND THE ADJOINING WATERS OF LAKE ERIE...LAKE ONTARIO... AND THE SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LOW PRESSURE TRACKING SOUTH OF PENNSYLVANIA WILL AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW TO THE AREA THIS MORNING...BEFORE TAPERING OFF FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON. SOME LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT AND MONDAY...BUT SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL REDEVELOP EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE GREAT LAKES TUESDAY AND CONTINUE OFF AND ON THROUGH THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BUFFALO CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT THE FOLLOWING (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BUF LEZ020-040-041-061-LOZ042>045-062>065-050945- UPPER NIAGARA RIVER AND BUFFALO HARBOR- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM RIPLEY TO DUNKIRK- LAKE ERIE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM DUNKIRK TO BUFFALO- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM RIPLEY TO BUFFALO- LAKE ONTARIO NEARSHORE WATERS FROM THE NIAGARA RIVER TO HAMLIN BEACH- LAKE ONTARIO NEARSHORE WATERS FROM HAMLIN BEACH TO SODUS BAY- LAKE ONTARIO NEARSHORE WATERS FROM SODUS BAY TO MEXICO BAY- LAKE ONTARIO NEARSHORE WATERS FROM MEXICO BAY TO THE SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER- LAKE ONTARIO OPEN WATERS FROM THE NIAGARA RIVER TO HAMLIN BEACH- LAKE ONTARIO OPEN WATERS FROM HAMLIN BEACH TO SODUS BAY- LAKE ONTARIO OPEN WATERS FROM SODUS BAY TO MEXICO BAY- LAKE ONTARIO OPEN WATERS FROM MEXICO BAY TO THE SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER- 434 AM EST SUN DEC 4 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEW YORK AND THE ADJOINING WATERS OF LAKE ERIE...LAKE ONTARIO... AND THE SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR THE NEARSHORES OF LAKE ERIE AND LAKE ONTARIO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR THE NEARSHORES OF LAKE ERIE UNTIL 10 AM MONDAY AND UNTIL 4 PM MONDAY FOR THE NEARSHORES OF LAKE ONTARIO. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BUFFALO CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT THE FOLLOWING (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BUF SLZ022-050945- SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER FROM CAPE VINCENT TO OGDENSBURG- 445 AM EST SUN DEC 4 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEW YORK AND THE ADJOINING WATERS OF LAKE ERIE...LAKE ONTARIO... AND THE SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BUFFALO CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT THE FOLLOWING (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BUF
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Lewis
- When
- December 5, 2:40 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Lewis forecast zone
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.785, -75.449 (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
- Winter Weather in Massachusetts, December 4, 2005
- Tornado and Hail in Georgia, December 4 to 5, 2005
- Cold in Colorado, December 4 to 19, 2005
- Lightning Strikes in Tennessee, December 4, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, December 4, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, December 4, 2005
- Winter Weather in New Jersey, December 4, 2005
- Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, December 4, 2005
- Hail in South Carolina, December 4, 2005
- Cold in Utah, December 4 to 19, 2005
- Winter Storm in Ohio, December 4, 2005
- Winter Storm in Montana, December 4 to 5, 2005
More
Every storm in New York in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, December 2005
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: 5488017, 5488018.