Buffalo is a city that knows snow, and knows how to handle it when it falls in great quantities. During the autumn and early winter season, when the wind is from the right direction and the normally placid waters of Lake Erie are not yet frozen, the lake can rise up in a hurricane of snow, burying the city. Located at the far northeast end of Lake Erie, a cold southwest wind over warm lake waters is the recipe for snowfalls of prodigious proportions.
Buffalo had gone through the entire month of November 2001 without any snow, the very first time in history that had occurred. But the city would make up for lost time in a hurry on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A large low pressure system over Lake Superior set up the requisite southwest wind on the 24th, and bands of heavy lake effect snow were the result. Early on Christmas Eve, the bands targeted northern suburbs of the city, but shifted south and then back north through Christmas Day, hosing the city with 25.2 inches of snow fell in just 24 hours. This was good enough to rank the Yuletide storm in third place on the rankings of 24 hour snowfalls for the city.
The new record would fall again just two days later when 29.6 inches of snow fell between 7pm on the 26th and 7pm on the 27th. 82.3 inches of snow would fall during a five day period, almost as much as the city normally receives in an entire winter season.
The fact that the snow occurred during a holiday week made it more enjoyable than it would had it occurred in a week when schools were open and many people were off.
The warmer than normal weather would return the first week of January. Buffalo had compressed an entire winter into a single week!
Buffalo had gone through the entire month of November 2001 without any snow, the very first time in history that had occurred. But the city would make up for lost time in a hurry on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A large low pressure system over Lake Superior set up the requisite southwest wind on the 24th, and bands of heavy lake effect snow were the result. Early on Christmas Eve, the bands targeted northern suburbs of the city, but shifted south and then back north through Christmas Day, hosing the city with 25.2 inches of snow fell in just 24 hours. This was good enough to rank the Yuletide storm in third place on the rankings of 24 hour snowfalls for the city.
The new record would fall again just two days later when 29.6 inches of snow fell between 7pm on the 26th and 7pm on the 27th. 82.3 inches of snow would fall during a five day period, almost as much as the city normally receives in an entire winter season.
The fact that the snow occurred during a holiday week made it more enjoyable than it would had it occurred in a week when schools were open and many people were off.
The warmer than normal weather would return the first week of January. Buffalo had compressed an entire winter into a single week!
on December 24, 2005, 11:42 am
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