Lake-Effect Snow in New York, January 8 to 10, 2007

Name: Lake-Effect Snow in New York, January 8 to 10, 2007
Start: 2007-01-08T20:00
End: 2007-01-10T11:00
Location: New York

January 8 to 10, 2007 · 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $78,000
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.

A surge of seasonably cold air overspread the Lower Lakes region during the second week of January. Lake snows off Lake Erie began late Monday evening (8th) in a northwest flow following a frontal passage, with a bit of upslope component Monday night, then a narrow band of intense snow moved in off Lake Erie after midnight and focused on southern Erie, Wyoming, and the northern portions of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties through mid morning Tuesday ahead of a weak trough. Up to a foot fell in a narrow band over these areas. Off Lake Ontario, a similar band developed over the Tug Hill Plateau. The activity broke apart and spread out a bit later Tuesday and Tuesday Night as flow turned northwest following the trough with some subsidence, then intensified a bit again off Ontario later Tuesday night and early Wednesday. Total amounts were as much as 16-19 in heaviest areas, but dropped off substantially elsewhere. |Off Lake Erie, specific snowfall reports included: 18 inches at Perrsyburg, 16 inches at Ellicottville, 15 inches at South Dayton, 13 inches at Arcade, 10 inches at Warsaw, and 8 inches at Jamestown and Dunkirk. Off Lake Ontario, snowfall reports included: 19 inches at Highmarket, 17 inches at North Osceola, 8 inches at Walworth, and 7 inches in West Monroe.

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 8, 3:51 PM EST, 4 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 8, 3:51 PM EST, 4 hours 9 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 8, 4:15 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Lake-Effect Snow, Oswego

When: January 8, 8:00 PM EST to January 10, 11:00 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, Lewis

When: January 8, 8:00 PM EST to January 9, 10:22 PM EST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.785, -75.449 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Wyoming

When: January 9, 3:27 AM EST to January 10, 6:00 AM 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, Chautauqua

When: January 9, 3:27 AM EST to January 10, 10:00 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 9, 3:27 AM EST to January 10, 10:00 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)

Lake-Effect Snow, Southern Erie

When: January 9, 3:27 AM EST to January 10, 6:00 AM 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)

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

Every storm in New York in 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 13497, 13502, 13504, 13505, 13508, 13513.