Winter Weather PNS 3

Public Information Statement 
National Weather Service New York NY 
600 AM EDT Tue Oct 29 2024

...THIS WEEK IS WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK...

Please join the National Weather Service in promoting winter weather 
education including safety. 

The topic for today is heavy snow and snow squalls.

Heavy snow is defined as an average snowfall of at least 6 inches in 
12 hours, or 8 inches in 24 hours. 

A snow squall is a heavy snow shower accompanied by gusty winds and 
blowing snow, which is expected to cause a rapid drop in visbility 
to 1/4 mile or less and plummet temperatures sufficiently to cause a 
flash freeze. These quick moving events are rare in our area, but 
when they do occur can be life threatening, leading to multi car 
pile-ups on high speed roads. 

Coastal storms, also known as noreasters, can produce heavy snow. 
They usually form from October through April along the coastal plain 
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mid Atlantic coast. The combination 
of low pressure moving northeast from those areas and high pressure 
to the north can produce strong northeast winds. 

Several significant coastal storms have brought blizzard conditions 
to the region during the past decade... 

On January 28 and 29 of 2022, blizzard conditions occurred over Long 
Island and southern Connecticut. Snowfall totals ranged from 18 to 
24 inches across eastern Long Island and southeastern Connecticut, 
12 to 18 inches across eastern portions of the New York City metro, 
western Long Island and south central Connecticut, with 6 to 10 
inches across western portions of the New York City metro, including 
urban northeastern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut. Whiteout 
conditions occurred at times across eastern Long Island and 
southeastern Connecticut due to the combination of 2 inch per hour 
snowfall rates and wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph. Snow drifts of 3 to 4 
ft were reported across these areas.

On January 4, 2018, blizzard conditions occurred over Long Island as 
well as portions of New York City, the Lower Hudson Valley, and 
southern Connecticut. Snowfall totals ranged from 12 to 16 inches 
across Long Island and southern Connecticut, 8 to 12 inches in New 
York City, 6 to 10 inches across the Lower Hudson Valley, with lesser 
amounts elsewhere. Near whiteout conditions occurred at times due to 
the combination of 1 to 3 inches per hour snowfall rates and wind 
gusts of 35 to 55 mph.

On March 14, 2017, a rapidly intensifying low pressure system 
brought blizzard conditions over Long Island, portions of northeast 
New Jersey, the Lower Hudson Valley, and interior Southern 
Connecticut. Snowfall totals ranged from around 1 to 2 feet across 
the interior Lower Hudson Valley and interior southern Connecticut, 
with amounts closer to 1 foot in northeast New Jersey. 

On February 9th 2017, a rapidly intensifying low pressure system 
brought blizzard conditions over Long Island, southern Connecticut, 
and coastal portions of the Lower Hudson Valley. Snowfall amounts 
ranged from 12 to 16 inches. These conditions brought delays and 
cancellations to the regions transportation systems as well as 
numerous accidents on roadways. 

On January 22nd and 23rd of 2016, a low pressure system developed 
across the southeast states and rapidly intensified as it tracked 
along the Middle Atlantic coast. Snowfall amounts ranged from over 2 
feet from northeast New Jersey, New York City, and Long Island to 
around a foot across parts of the Lower Hudson Valley and southern 
Connecticut. Blizzard conditions occurred across New York City, 
northeast New Jersey, Long Island, and southern Connecticut. A 
record 27.5 inches of snow fell at Central Park, which is the 
biggest snowstorm since observations began in 1869.  

On February 8th and 9th of 2013...a powerful blizzard brought 
extremely heavy snowfall to much of central and eastern Long Island. 
Snowfall rates up to 6 inches per hour during the evening rush hour 
stranded numerous motor vehicles. Lightning and small hail also 
occurred at the height of the blizzard. Snowfall totals of 18 to 34 
inches occurred away from the immediate south shore of long Island, 
causing partial roof, house and shed collapses. Brookhaven National 
Laboratory recorded its biggest single storm snowfall ever, with 
30.9 inches. Wind gusts from 45 to 75 Miles Per Hour combined with 
heavy snow to down trees and cause whiteout conditions.  

The last two winter seasons featured well below normal snowfall. 
Last winter season featured only 7.5 inches of snow at Central Park. 
The 2022-2023 winter season featured only 2.3 inches of snowfall at 
Central Park in New York City, which was a record for the least 
snowiest winter since record keeping began at Central Park in 1869. 
These previous two seasons were well below the average seasonal 
snowfall of 29.8 inches. 

For a detailed list of significant storms and snowfall 
amounts, visit our web page at... 

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OKX/STORMEVENTS

The next statement around 6 am Wednesday will cover ice storms.

$$