Weather History for January 24

News Headlines

Western New York Weather History

JANUARY 24

1963

Severe blizzard..January 23rd-24th...the wind and cold produced very severe conditions. Practically all schools in the area were closed the two days. Commercial operations closed down or operated with a minimum staff. Transportation slowed and hundreds of cars failed to start. Eleven deaths have been reported as in some way attributable to the storm effects. On the 24th, record low temperature of minus 11 was recorded at 9am and the wind at the time was west southwest at 40 mph gusting to 52. Average temperature on the 24th was minus 5 degrees, average wind 31 mph from the west southwest, fastest mile 47 mph from the west, and peak gust of 55 mph from the west at 9:01am. Tonawanda Iron Plant on River Road reported gusts to 75 mph. Snowfall for the two day period was 6 inches.

1991

A westerly flow of arctic air across the relatively warm waters of Lakes Erie and Ontario produced lake effect snow squalls. Snowfall reports included: Barnes Corners, Lewis county, 26"; Mayville, Chautauqua county, 15"; and Colden, Erie county, 8".

1992

A northwest flow of cold air across Lake Erie produced localized snow squalls which dumped up to six inches of snow over the northern and central regions of Chautauqua County. Winds gusted up to 35 mph and caused whiteouts in the squalls. Several school districts called off classes because of the storm.

1999

23RD-24TH…Warm temperatures melted the snowpack from record snowfall in late December and early January. Nearly two feet of ripe snowpack dissolved to just a few inches remaining. The runoff caused flooding in poor drainage and low lying regions across the area with roads closed in some locations for a couple of days. Some of the hardest hit areas included Lancaster and Williamsville in Erie County, Royalton in Niagara County, Batavia and Corfu in Genesee County and Chili in Monroe County. Evacuations occurred in Angola, Chili and Lancaster. In addition, ice jam flooding began on area Buffalo area creeks on the 23rd and 24th with Cayuga Creek the most serious. Some evacuations were necessary and roads were closed in the vicinity of south Cheektowaga. Conditions improved on the 25th as the jams loosened and moved downstream. Cayuga Creek was above flood stage from 12:00 PM on the 23rd to 8:00 AM on the 24th. The slower rising Ellicott and Tonawanda Creeks than rose above flood stage. Ellicott Creek was over flood stage from 3:00 PM on the 24th to 12:00 PM on the 25th, cresting overnight. Flooding was reported in Bowmansville. The slower Tonawanda rose above flood stage at Batavia at 11:00 AM on the 24th and remained so for 24 hours.The creek did not crest in Rapids until the 27th, but was above flood stage from 2:00 PM on the 26th to 9:00 AM on the 28th. Cazenovia Creek briefly rose above flood stage from 2:00 AM to 5:00AM on the 24th. East of Lake Ontario, flooding was reported in Lewis County along the Moose River due to a massive jam.