Winter 2010 - 2011
This winter was a very deep and consistent one. It was not particularly long...not starting until just after Thanksgiving...and petering out about on schedule in late March and early April...but it was remarkably persistent with very few thaws. Total snowfall was above normal everywhere (except on the Tug Hill)...but not substantially so. Snow covered the ground just about the entire period from early December through mid March with just a few brief breaks. All 4 cold weather months (Dec-Mar) averaged colder than normal.
It was the coldest and snowiest winter overall across our region in eight years (since 2002-03). Nearly all of snow through January was of the Lake effect variety...while virtually all of it in February and March was synoptic.
There were eight lake effect "events"...two fewer than average. The most disruptive "storm" of the winter was the intense narrow lake effect storm which smothered Buffalo's immediate east and southeast suburbs with up to three feet of snow on December 1. The flow tended west to northwest through the rest of December and January...favoring the Rochester area with several moderate falls in December and Oswego county with intense snows in January.
The pattern relaxed a bit in February...with the synoptic storm track setting up over our region, giving several moderate synoptic snows areawide. There were two more in March as well. Milder weather finally set in during March's final week and also by mid April.
The heaviest season snowfall was actually over Oswego county rather than the Tug Hill due to the more northwesterly flow. High elevations of the Chautauqua ridge did quite well in the west...but all areas...including the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas...had above normal snowfall. Again...this was not due to major storms...just the incredible frequency of the minor snowfalls.
Monthly details follow....
NOVEMBER 2010
A mild and quiet month through Thanksgiving...then finally some winter. A decent lake snow (Alewife) on 26-27th provided nearly all of the month's snowfall...focusing on the typical snowbelts off both lakes with up to a foot. Otherwise little or no snow for the month...continuing the recent pattern of snow free Novembers (less than normal 8 of last 10 yrs).
DECEMBER 2010
The month's first few hours and last few hours both saw temperatures in the 50s with rain...but otherwise December was a deep winter month with near constant cold. There were no synoptic storms at all...but the lake effect machine was very active as it usually is during a cold December following a mild autumn.
Snowfall was above normal across most areas...again due to near constant lake snows. The bulk of the snow fell during the first two weeks of the month with only some "nickel and dime" falls during the last half of the month. There were three major lake snows...an intense southwest one which smothered the near southern and eastern suburbs of Buffalo on 1-2nd, then a couple of long lasting northwest flow events which dropped large amounts on the Rochester area as well as the western southern tier There were even some unusually strong Lake Huron/Georgian Bay connections. Oswego county did very well as usual but Jefferson and Lewis were largely spared as flow was mainly northwest. All areas had a white Christmas but a strong thaw and rain on New year's Eve melted the snowpack and left the ground bare across most areas as we started the New Year.
JANUARY 2011
January was a consistently cold and snowy winter month for all of western and central New York. The major thaw on the 1st with temperatures in the 50s melted just about all the snow and ice from December, but nearly constant subfreezing temperatures and daily snowfalls were the rule for the rest of the month. The snowfall was amazingly consistent...with measurable amounts falling on 25 to 27 days...but the falls were virtually all "nickel and dime" with Buffalo's largest fall just 3". The region missed all the major storms which affected the east coast and near south. Totals were near to slightly above normal...mainly due to the frequency of the falls. There was one exception...Oswego county...which was nailed by all three lake effect events...on 2-5th, 15-16th, and 21-22nd. Monthly totals topped 100" across much of that county.
FEBRUARY 2011
February was another very wintry month across the region...and snowfall was fairly heavy and above normal across most areas. This time however, snowfall was mainly synoptic as the blocking pattern broke down and allowed for a storm track up into the Northeast...providing our region with several rounds of synoptic snow. Significant falls occurred on the 2nd and 25th while lighter but disruptive snows of a few inches occurred on 5th, 12th, 19-21st and 26th. Only one major lake effect "event" occurred...and it focused on Oswego county and the southern Tug Hill on 9-11th. The winter has been relentless with near record number of days below freezing and days with measurable snow...but no huge snowstorms have affected our region. It was the coldest winter in 8 years and 3rd coldest in last 30 years. Snow has covered the ground on all but a handful of days during the 3 month period.
MARCH 2011
March was changeable as usual...but still more on the wintry side. Unlike the past two Marches, we did get snow...but all of it was synoptic and mainly fell in two events...on 6th and 23rd. The event on the 6th was heaviest across eastern areas...with up to 6" east of the Genesee...while the event of the 23rd focused more on western NY with up to 8". Monthly totals were near normal but varied little from place to place...slightly more in western NY and less east of Lake Ontario.
APRIL 2011
A rather wintry first week with some wet snow at times...a few inches did accumulate at higher elevations but nothing at low spots. The region just missed a major snow which fell on April 1 over New England and eastern New York. We were treated to a brief summer tease on 10-11th with readings in the 70s and even low 80s in spots.
WFO BUFFALO
2010-2011 SEASON SNOWFALL
ID's: (C#...Cocorahs ID) (OP...Co-op) (SS...Snowspotter)
ID TOWN NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR TOTAL
NIAGARA COUNTY (NG)
C02 N. Tonawanda 0 24 34 33 10 0 101
C08 Lockport 0 32 34 27 10 0 103
C12 Lockport 0 29 38 24 13 0 104
C17 Pendleton 0 35 29 32 6 0 104
OP Youngstown 0 9 20 29 10 0 69
OP N. Tonawanda 0 22 34 31 10 0 96
OP Niagara Falls AP 0 30 35 31 10 1 106
ERIE COUNTY (ER)
C03 Elma NE 5 47 34 36 13 1 135
C04 Getzville 3 36 32 36 10 0 115
C07 Williamsville E 1 29 30 36 11 0 105
C09 West Seneca SE 4 37 41 39 12 0 132
C39 Hamburg 0 18 27 24 8 0 76
C44 Elma Ctr 6 25 38 34 4 0 107
C50 East Aurora 7 23 43 36 11 0 119
C51 Clarence Ctr 0 22 22 31 8 0 82
C53 West Seneca W 2 37 35 31 12 0 117
C56 Colden 7 38 71 32 15 2 166
C57 Kenmore 0 23 26 36 12 1 98
C58 Buffalo (South) 4 51 22 31 13 0 120
C59 Kenmore 0 21 28 32 12 0 92
C60 Blasdell 3 28 32 25 11 0 99
C63 Glenwood 5 27 59 29 15 0 131
C65 Boston NE 7 33 65 42 18 1 164
C66 E. Aurora E. 16 31 41 24 11 1 117
C67 West Seneca 15 42 35 36 8 0 124
C70 Alden-Millgrove 4 59 39 31 14 0 147
C72 Tonawanda NE 0 18 25 24 11 0 77
C75 Elma Ctr 4 29 38 44 11 0 125
C77 Holland 6 31 56 32 20 3 146
C83 Williamsville 0 23 28 31 12 0 94
C85 Akron 4 42 29 29 10 0 114
SS Buffalo (Del. Park) 0 26 28 31 12 0 97
OP Cheektowaga (BUF AP) 2 32 30 34 13 0 111
OP Wales 7 21 39 32 17 0 117
ORLEANS COUNTY (OL)
OP Albion 0 10 25 29 10 0 73
OP Lyndonville 0 12 24 24 7 0 67
GENESEE COUNTY (GN)
OP Batavia 0 32 31 44 8 0 115
WYOMING COUNTY (WY)
OP Perry 3 16 20 23 14 0 76
OP Portageville 0 10 21 29 11 0 71
OP Warsaw 0 40 53 39 19 2 154
OP Bennington 7 36 46 42 18 0 148
SS Warsaw (hill) 5 36 48 47 19 0 156
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY (CQ)
C06 Forestville 3 31 52 34 10 0 126
C07 Frewsburg 1 40 30 32 10 0 110
C09 Dunkirk 2 15 24 25 9 0 75
OP Fredonia 0 14 34 40 16 0 104
OP Jamestown 1 49 39 37 12 2 137
CATTARAUGUS COUNTY (CT)
C02 Randolph 5 94 39 35 4 0 178
C05 Portville 1 21 33 23 6 0 84
C06 Olean 0 22 38 36 13 2 111
C07 Hinsdale 2 53 44 36 17 5 154
C11 Allegany N 2 51 41 36 17 4 148
OP Allegheny Park 0 63 28 37 13 2 149
OP Franklinville 3 35 37 31 19 1 125
OP Little Valley 2 79 47 46 12 2 189
OP New Albion 2 39 31 25 14 6 113
OP Olean 0 35 23 35 6 1 99
OP Perrysburg 6 60 82 51 16 0 215
ALLEGANY COUNTY (AL)
C02 W. Almond SW 1 17 34 28 16 0 95
OP Angelica 3 14 30 31 18 1 97
OP Rushford 2 29 43 33 19 1 125
OP Wellsville 0 13 24 30 19 1 88
OP Whitesville 0 18 26 31 27 1 102
LIVINGSTON COUNTY (LV)
C01 Dansville SW 3 14 30 42 15 0 99
C05 Dansville 1 10 28 27 11 0 77
OP Avon 0 8 16 27 9 0 60
OP Dansville 0 2 12 25 11 0 51
SS Livonia 3 16 24 31 12 0 86
ONTARIO COUNTY (ON)
OP Honeoye Lake 0 9 17 20 10 0 56
OP Geneva 0 8 14 22 16 0 59
MONROE COUNTY (MR)
C05 E. Rochester 0 27 27 19 5 0 78
C07 Hamlin 0 35 40 37 13 0 125
C12 N. Chili 0 32 19 25 10 0 86
C15 Brockport 1 28 36 31 11 0 104
C21 Pittsford 1 25 25 17 5 0 72
C23 Greece 0 32 27 26 12 0 96
C26 Webster W 2 34 27 23 10 0 93C28 Webster NE 2 32 35 26 11 0 102
C29 Brockport 0 34 31 38 11 0 113
OP Rochester (Airport) ROC 0 47 32 33 15 0 127
OP Webster 0 32 33 27 11 0 103
WAYNE COUNTY (WN)
C06 Palmyra 0 49 25 27 10 0 110
C09 Marion NE 0 65 27 22 9 0 123
C10 Walworth 1 58 34 37 15 0 144
OP Sodus Center 0 38 43 15 7 0 103
CAYUGA COUNTY (CY)
C10 Martville SE 1 48 61 35 7 0 151
OSWEGO COUNTY (OS)
C01 Lacona S 3 100 78 67 8 2 258
C03 Scriba 1 56 93 69 5 0 225
C13 Redfield 6 101 90 90 21 4 312
C15 Minetto 1 53 105 55 7 0 220
C16 Palermo 1 61 84 41 8 0 195
C20 Fulton 2 80 115 48 9 1 253
SS SW Oswego 0 43 83 67 8 0 201
OP Oswego E 1 37 83 53 6 0 179
LEWIS COUNTY (LW)
C02 Harrisville SW 8 42 38 42 13 0 143
C03 Constableville 8 16 54 35 27 2 141
C04 Copenhagen 14 60 49 63 19 0 203
OP Highmarket 4 16 46 46 24 3 134
OP Hooker 14 60 49 63 19 1 205
OP Lowville 7 7 32 47 20 0 113
JEFFERSON COUNTY (JF)
C07 Theresa S 4 27 26 58 3 0 118
C10 Watertown 3 25 16 28 6 0 78
C11 Carthage SW 6 30 19 36 11 0 102
OP Watertown 4 28 33 54 5 0 120
NEARBY CITIES.
Toronto 0 3 16 18 11 2 50
Syracuse 1 73 43 44 19 0 179
Binghamton 1 33 25 32 26 3 115
Erie 1 18 38 36 15 2 105
Cleveland 0 13 21 23 12 0 69
Boston 0 23 38 18 1 1 81
Albany 0 13 34 31 9 1 87
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