Lake-Effect Snow in New York, December 4 to 6, 2008

Name: Lake-Effect Snow in New York, December 4 to 6, 2008
Start: 2008-12-04T19:00
End: 2008-12-06T04:00
Location: New York

December 4 to 6, 2008 · 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.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $60,000
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.

The active lake effect season continued with the seventh event in less than a month getting underway immediately following a cold frontal passage on Thursday December 4th. A well aligned westerly flow set off lake effect snows off Lake Ontario Thursday afternoon which intensified and continued Thursday night into early Friday, mainly from northern Oswego County into the western Tug Hill. Later in the day, a single intense band lifted north to the Watertown area during the evening and remained until about 2 am when it lifted north and weakened. Off Lake Ontario, specific reports included: 17 inches at Pulaski; 13 inches at Lacona and Harrisville; and 9 to 13 inches at Watertown.|After some diminishing of the activity Friday morning, a deep westerly flow set up again during the day with a band of intense snow setting up off Lake Erie over the lakeshore area near Dunkirk-Silver Creek. This band remained intense as it drifted north up the lake into the Buffalo South Towns by dark, then lifted quickly across the Buffalo metro area during the evening and then stalled in a weakened form up over Niagara county and Niagara Peninsula before dissipating Saturday morning. Specific snowfall reports included: 11 inches at Dunkirk; 10 inches at Mayville; 8 inches at Derby and Blasdell; and 7 inches in East Aurora.

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, 4:09 PM EST, 2 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 4:09 PM EST, 2 hours 51 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 4, 4:14 PM EST, 2 hours 46 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

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

Lake-Effect Snow, Oswego

When: December 4, 7:00 PM EST to December 5, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Oswego forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.464, -76.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Jefferson

When: December 4, 7:00 PM EST to December 6, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.999, -76.052 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Lewis

When: December 4, 7:00 PM EST to December 6, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.785, -75.449 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Chautauqua

When: December 5, 10:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where: Chautauqua forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.303, -79.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Cattaraugus

When: December 5, 10:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM 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, Southern Erie

When: December 5, 10:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Southern 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

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 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, December 2008

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: 146684, 146686, 146687, 146688, 146689, 146690.