A stationary boundary was draped across the Adirondacks of New York into portions of central and northern New England from December 20th through 22nd with several disturbances delivering precipitation. An impressive battle between mild to warm moist air, south of the boundary with temperatures in the 50s, overriding a very cold, dense shallow air mass with temperatures in the teens and 20s in…
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.
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.
The episode as NWS BTV wrote it up.
A stationary boundary was draped across the Adirondacks of New York into portions of central and northern New England from December 20th through 22nd with several disturbances delivering precipitation. An impressive battle between mild to warm moist air, south of the boundary with temperatures in the 50s, overriding a very cold, dense shallow air mass with temperatures in the teens and 20s in New York but single digits just north across the border into Canada.
First round of wintry precipitation fell across northern New York, especially along the Canadian border during Friday afternoon (December 20th). Most of the precipitation fell as freezing rain, approximately 1/4 to 1/3 of ice accumulation, along with some sleet. The second round began during the late morning and early afternoon hours of December 21st and peaked during the evening and overnight hours. An additional 1/2 to 1 inch of ice accumulation as well as 1 to 2 inches of sleet occurred in portions of northern New York.
The greatest impact was along the Canadian border, especially the St. Lawrence River Valley with widespread tree and utility line damage as well as numerous vehicle accidents. Tens of dozens of customers were without power from hours to days across the region. Similar areas as the Ice Storm of January 1998, but not the severity as precipitation and ice accumulation was half of the 1998 storm.
Ice jams also developed during this time period as runoff from melting snow and rainfall swelled area rivers. River rises were enough to break up and move ice cover, resulting in scattered ice jams.
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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 20, 9:24 AM EST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT 432 AM EST FRI DEC 20 2013 NYZ026>031-087-210945- NORTHERN ST. LAWRENCE-NORTHERN FRANKLIN-EASTERN CLINTON- SOUTHEASTERN ST. LAWRENCE-SOUTHERN FRANKLIN-WESTERN CLINTON- SOUTHWESTERN ST. LAWRENCE- 432 AM EST FRI DEC 20 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST SATURDAY... ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN NEW YORK. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WATCH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. NYZ034-035-VTZ004>010-017-018-210945- WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-ESSEX-WESTERN CHITTENDEN-LAMOILLE- CALEDONIA-WASHINGTON-WESTERN ADDISON-ORANGE-EASTERN CHITTENDEN- EASTERN ADDISON- 432 AM EST FRI DEC 20 2013 ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN NEW YORK...CENTRAL VERMONT...NORTHEAST VERMONT AND NORTHWEST VERMONT. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS THE REGION WITH SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF A DUSTING TO 2 INCHES POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH A TRACE OF ICE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WATCH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. VTZ011-012-019-210945- WESTERN RUTLAND-WINDSOR-EASTERN RUTLAND- 432 AM EST FRI DEC 20 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN VERMONT. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. RAIN WILL DEVELOP ON SATURDAY WITH POCKETS OF FREEZING RAIN LIKELY IN THE COLDER VALLEYS. A MINOR ICE ACCUMULATIONS IS POSSIBLE. THE COMBINATION OF MELTING SNOW AND THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL WILL RESULT IN SHARP RISES ON LOCAL WATERWAYS ON SUNDAY. SOME MINOR FLOODING IS POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. VTZ001>003-016-210945- GRAND ISLE-WESTERN FRANKLIN-ORLEANS-EASTERN FRANKLIN- 432 AM EST FRI DEC 20 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST SATURDAY... ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST VERMONT AND NORTHWEST VERMONT. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER STORM WATCH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT 1030 AM EST FRI DEC 20 2013 NYZ034-035-VTZ005-202100- WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-WESTERN CHITTENDEN- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LAKE PLACID...PORT HENRY... TICONDEROGA...BURLINGTON 1030 AM EST FRI DEC 20 2013 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT... PATCHY AREAS OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN OR FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF ESSEX COUNTY NEW YORK...AND CHITTENDEN COUNTY IN VERMONT THROUGH THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. THE HIGHEST PROBABILITY OF SEEING FREEZING RAIN WILL BE IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY WHERE COLDER AIR WILL BLEED SLOWLY SOUTHWARD TODAY. WHILE ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE VERY LIGHT...AREA ROADS MAY BECOME LOCALLY QUITE SLICK. IF PLANNING TRAVEL IN THESE AREAS TODAY...PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS POSSIBILITY. JMG
The Ft Drum radar (KTYX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:50 UTC.
8 ice storm, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Freezing rain accumulated over an inch, along with more than an inch of sleet across northern St. Lawrence county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
Freezing rain accumulated between 1 and 1.5 inches across southwest St. Lawrence county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
Freezing rain accumulated around 1 inch, along with more than an inch of sleet across Clinton county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
Freezing rain accumulated over an inch, along with more than an inch of sleet across northern Franklin county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
Freezing rain accumulated 1-1.25 inches, along with more than an inch of sleet across Clinton county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
Freezing rain accumulated between 1/2 to 3/4 inch, along with some minor accumulations of sleet across eastern Essex county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
Freezing rain accumulated between 0.5 and 1 inch across southeast St. Lawrence county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
Freezing rain accumulated between 0.5 and 0.75 inch across southern Franklin county causing numerous vehicle accidents, tree and utility line damage.
An ice jam moved down the East Branch Ausable River the morning of December 22. Reports were first received as the jam moved through the Jersey section of Ausable Forks NY. The river gage on the East Branch Ausable at Ausable Forks NY crested at 9.61 feet at 05:15 AM EST, flood stage is 7 feet. The jam eventually moved out of the East Branch into the Ausable River and came to rest between Ausable Forks and Clintonville on the Ausable River. Low lying roads, parking lots, and park land were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New York in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, December 2013
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: 483508, 483509, 483504, 483507, 483514, 483505, 483511, 483512, 484379.