Lake-Effect Snow in New York, January 17 to 19, 2016

Name: Lake-Effect Snow in New York, January 17 to 19, 2016
Start: 2016-01-17T08:00
End: 2016-01-19T18:00
Location: New York

January 17 to 19, 2016 · NWS BUF · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: $221,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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.

After brief respite from the January cold, and lake effect snow, arctic air flowed over the eastern Great Lakes Sunday, January 17th, with early weekend air temperatures in the 40s plummeting back below freezing. The lake effect snows began during the morning.|Off of Lake Erie, a moderate snow band developed Niagara County and remained through the early afternoon hours. As winds veered the snow band began to drift south. Snow fell across the metro Buffalo region Sunday afternoon at the rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour. The band of snow maintained its southward movement, and yielded 4 to 6 inches over the Buffalo metro area. By Sunday evening the band of snow was over the ski country and the western Southern Tier. By Monday morning a wide area of light to moderate lake effect snow continued east of Lake Erie. While the snowfall rates were not impressive, generally under an inch, the persistent state to the snow bands brought storm accumulations upwards to a foot to a foot and a half by Monday night. Lake effect snow slowly trailed off through the overnight hours Monday and early morning hours of Tuesday. Specific storm totals off Lake Erie included: 19 inches at Little Valley, 18 inches at Perrysburg, 17 inches at Randolph, 16 inches at Franklinville; and 12 inches at Mayville and Sardinia.|Off of Lake Ontario light snow fell across the Saint Lawrence valley through the early afternoon hours of Sunday, January 17th. A well-defined band of lake effect snow formed late Sunday night, and early Monday morning on a westerly flow. This band of snow arced across northern Oswego County and the southern Tug Hill through the early morning hours of Monday, January 18th. Just before dawn veering winds organized the band of lake effect snow over the Wayne-Cayuga-Oswego corridor. This band of snow increased in intensity to over 3 inches per hour by midday Monday bringing dangerous travel conditions over the southeast shoreline of Lake Ontario and inland. This band of snow at times had upstream connection to not only Georgian Bay but also Lake Superior. While the main band of lake effect snow off Lake Ontario flew over the southeast shoreline Monday, there was another band of snow, originating off Lake Huron, and across southwestern Lake Ontario that brought several inches of snow through the day across Niagara, Orleans and western Monroe counties. This northwest flow over Lake Ontario continued varying intensity to the snow bands through the night and into Tuesday, with subtle variations in the wind flow carrying the snows over the southern and southeastern shorelines. Though this event ended Tuesday, light to moderate bands of snow continued along the southern and southeastern shorelines of Lake Ontario through Thursday adding several additional inches of snow. Specific storm totals off Lake Ontario included: 22 inches at Fulton, 19 inches at Redfield, 17 inches at Mannsville, 15 inches at Osceola, 13 inches at Irondequoit, 12 inches at Lorraine, 11 inches at Pulaski, 10 inches at Marion and 9 inches at Sterling.

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 17, 6:39 AM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 17, 6:39 AM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 17, 4:34 AM EST, 3 hours 26 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

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

Lake-Effect Snow, Southern Erie

When: January 17, 8:00 AM EST to January 19, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $18,000
Reported by: Social Media
Coordinates: 42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Jefferson

When: January 17, 8:00 AM EST to January 18, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.999, -76.052 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Lewis

When: January 17, 8:00 AM EST to January 18, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 43.785, -75.449 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Oswego

When: January 17, 8:00 AM EST to January 19, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Oswego forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 43.464, -76.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Chautauqua

When: January 17, 2:00 PM EST to January 19, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Chautauqua forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 42.303, -79.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Cattaraugus

When: January 17, 2:00 PM EST to January 19, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Cattaraugus forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.249, -78.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Wayne

When: January 18, 2:00 AM EST to January 19, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 43.066, -76.978 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Northern Cayuga

When: January 18, 2:00 AM EST to January 19, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Cayuga forecast zone
Property damage: $18,000
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 43.010, -76.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake-Effect Snow, Monroe

When: January 18, 8:00 AM EST to January 19, 1:00 PM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: Social Media
Coordinates: 43.165, -77.636 (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 2016 Every state in 2016 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, January 2016

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: 616128, 616129, 616130, 616133, 616131, 616132, 616135, 616136, 616134.