New York, 2007

Lake-Effect Snow in New York, January 29 to 30, 2007

January 29 to 30, 2007 · NWS BUF · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

True winter continued to deepen across the region during the last week of the month and with the lakes still open and warmer than usual due to the earlier mild winter. A northwest flow developed Monday morning the 29th and set up an intense narrow band off Lake Ontario which focused on the three-county border of Wayne-Cayuga-Oswego.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$93,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

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.

True winter continued to deepen across the region during the last week of the month and with the lakes still open and warmer than usual due to the earlier mild winter. A northwest flow developed Monday morning the 29th and set up an intense narrow band off Lake Ontario which focused on the three-county border of Wayne-Cayuga-Oswego. This band moved little for 4 to 6 hours, and dropped snow at the rate of up to 5 inches per hour! Twenty to thirty inches fell in a ten-mile wide area centered on Fair Haven and Hannibal. The flow backed a bit later in the day and sent the band north across central Oswego county with up to 6 inches falling before settling south again after midnight and dissipating. |Off Lake Erie, heavy lake snow developed across Chautauqua county in the early afternoon, and then slowly but steadily drifted north as the flow backed ahead of an approaching low. The band moved north across Buffalo's southtowns in the evening and dropped 5 to 10 inches of snow, but broke apart just as it reached the City of Buffalo. Upward of two feet fell during the day over the Chautauqua Ridge, and up to a foot south of Buffalo. |Off Lake Ontario, specific snowfall reports included: 30 inches at Hannibal, 24 inches at Red Creek, 21 inches at Fair Haven, and 8 inches at West Monroe and Constantia.|Off Lake Erie, specific snowfall reports included: 24 inches at Perrysburg, 23 inches at Arkwright, 18 inches as Cassadaga, 15 inches at Mayville, 10 inches at Hamburg and 9 inches at Orchard Park.

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 Jan 29, 3:54 AM EST, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 3:54 AM EST, 6 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 lake-effect snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Lake-Effect Snow, Chautauqua

When
January 29, 4:00 AM EST to January 30, 12:00 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)

Lake-Effect Snow, Cattaraugus

When
January 29, 4:00 AM EST to January 30, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Cattaraugus forecast zone
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
42.249, -78.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Wayne

When
January 29, 4:00 AM EST to January 30, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Wayne forecast zone
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
43.066, -76.978 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Northern Cayuga

When
January 29, 4:00 AM EST to January 30, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Cayuga forecast zone
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
43.010, -76.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Oswego

When
January 29, 4:00 AM EST to January 30, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Oswego forecast zone
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
43.464, -76.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Wyoming

When
January 29, 4:00 PM EST to January 30, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Wyoming forecast zone
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
42.702, -78.224 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Southern Erie

When
January 29, 4:00 PM EST to January 30, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Southern Erie forecast zone
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Northern Erie

When
January 29, 4:00 PM EST to January 30, 12:00 PM EST
Where
Northern Erie forecast zone
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Lake-Effect Snow
Heavy snow in bands downwind of a large lake as cold air crosses warmer water.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New York in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, January 2007

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 13581, 13582, 13583, 13584, 13585, 13586, 13587, 13588.