New York, 2020

Lake-Effect Snow in New York, December 29, 2020

December 29, 2020 · NWS BUF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lake effect snow developed southeast of the lower Great Lakes on west-northwest flow. While already in cold advection behind an initial cold front, a secondary cold front dropped southeast, hanging up along Lake Ontario.

Where it happened

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  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

Lake effect snow developed southeast of the lower Great Lakes on west-northwest flow. While already in cold advection behind an initial cold front, a secondary cold front dropped southeast, hanging up along Lake Ontario. This allowed for the band to become stationary over southern Oswego County for roughly 5 hours as this front lingered overhead. Reports of 9-13 were widespread just to the north of Oneida Lake in Oswego County from this band. Selected snow totals included 13 inches in Sand Ridge, 8 inches in Fulton, 12 inches in Central Square, and 9 inches in Phoenix.

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 28, 10:07 PM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 28, 10:07 PM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 28, 2:31 PM EST, 9 hours 29 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 28, 11:28 PM EST, 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1128 PM EST MON DEC 28 2020

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0830 PM     SNOW             BARNES CORNERS          43.82N 75.82W
12/28/2020  M3.8 INCH        LEWIS              NY   STORM CHASER

            3.8 INCHES OF SNOW IN 2.5 HOURS FROM 6PM TO
            830 PM.

&&

HITCHCOCK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Lake-Effect Snow, Oswego

When
December 29, 12:00 AM EST to 7:00 AM EST
Where
Oswego forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
43.464, -76.209 (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

More

Every storm in New York in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in New York, December 2020

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: 935071.