Winter Storm in New York, December 14 to 15, 2019

Name: Winter Storm in New York, December 14 to 15, 2019
Start: 2019-12-14T15:00
End: 2019-12-15T07:00
Location: New York

December 14 to 15, 2019 · NWS BUF · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 complex scenario unfolded across the eastern Great Lakes. A southern stream shortwave moving out of the Ohio Valley phased with a northern stream trough over the western Great Lakes, and the resulting trough became negatively-tiled as it crossed the eastern Great Lakes. A broad surface low with several circulation centers moving north along the east coast consolidated into one, and the resultant rapidly-deepening low took an inland track through western New England to eastern Quebec. Precipitation started as rain everywhere. As the surface low and upper level features strengthened, the column cooled on the western flank of the system within the deformation zone in the comma ahead, allowing rain to change to wet snow from west to east. Model guidance struggled with the timing of the change to wet snow, however the best chances of heavier snow accumulation were always over the higher terrain of western New York. A few selected totals for the resultant snow after the changeover include to 9 inches in Boston, 8 inches in Warsaw, 9 inches in Ellicotville, and 10 inches in Bemus Point.

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 14, 2:31 PM EST, 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 14, 2:31 PM EST, 29 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 14, 4:50 AM EST, 10 hours 10 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

4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Southern Erie

When: December 14, 3:00 PM EST to December 15, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Erie forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 42.758, -78.780 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wyoming

When: December 14, 3:00 PM EST to December 15, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Wyoming forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.702, -78.224 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cattaraugus

When: December 14, 3:00 PM EST to December 15, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Cattaraugus forecast zone
Reported by: Social Media
Coordinates: 42.249, -78.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Chautauqua

When: December 14, 3:00 PM EST to December 15, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Chautauqua forecast zone
Reported by: Social Media
Coordinates: 42.303, -79.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New York in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, December 2019

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 869360, 869361, 869362, 869363.