Thursday's Lake Effect Snows Were REALLY Something; Active Weather Pattern To Continue

Screen grab showing intense Lake Ontario snow squalls
blasting downtown Watertown, New York Thursday. 

For the second time in recent weeks, western Pennsylvania and New York were slammed by incredible Great Lakes snow squalls.  

Also for the second time in that period, Vermont got a taste of the action. In both the hard hit areas and in Vermont, this round of snow squalls didn't result in snow as deep as the first time. But this latest bout was more intense.

Here's an example:  As of early Thursday afternoon, Eden, New York, reported 28 inches of snow, but an incredible foot of that slammed down in just two hours.  Eventually, snow piled up to 35 inches in Eden.  

The snow shut down highways near and south of Buffalo, New York and prompted states of emergency.  As is usual in these lake effect cases, snowfall was capricious. The city of Buffalo itself only received 2.4 inches of snow Thursday. Just a few miles south,  several towns reported at least 30 inches of new snow. 

Most of Thursday, like the line of squalls of Lake Erie south Buffalo, the snow band off of Lake Ontario resembled a long finger pointing off the lake into northwestern New York, into Vermont and even beyond at times.

That finger was wagging at us, see-sawing back and forth, northward and southward with the wind. But what was odd was how well organized the band of snow was even when it reached Vermont. Usually, these things are pretty fragmented by the time they get here. 

Early in the day, as dawn broke, by the time it reached Vermont the snow band was aimed east-southeastward, down Interstate 89 toward Montpelier.

National Weather Service radar from Thursday morning 
showing a strong Lake Ontario snow band holding
together remarkably well as it made its way 
into Vermont. 

As the wind backed into the southwest a little bit ahead of a second cold front, the band of snow drifted northward, making it almost to the Canadian border above Franklin County and into southeastern Canada and the northern tip of New Hampshire.

Then the wind gradually shifted into the northwest, sending the band southward again. 

Few spots in Vermont got all that much snow, but it came down really hard for brief periods, reducing visibility on roads which also got slick for short intervals before the sun reappeared. 

Then it moved north, coming into Vermont near the Canadian border around noon. Then the band drifted south again as a new cold front came in from the north, pushing the band southward in tandem.

Most places that saw snow from this lake affect band got little snow.  It came down really hard here in St Albans for a short period of time, but we only got about a half inch of new snow. Some higher elevations in northern Vermont did well, however. Greensboro reported 6.4 inches of fresh snow. 

UP NEXT

Saturday is going to be weird, but you won't readily notice it. A high pressure system coming in will be so strong that we'll be close to records in Vermont for the highest air pressure on record for December. 

The record is 1051 mb or 31.03 inches set on Christmas, 1949. We should be close by Saturday, with forecast pressures near 1048 mb or nearly 31 inches on Saturday. 

The Christmas season is high pressure enough, so the good news, is, you just go through your day Saturday, you won't notice much from this meteorological high pressure. It will just produce For those sunshine on Saturday and a very chilly Saturday night.

 This type of high pressure tends to cause clear, calm nights, so some areas will have their first subzero readings of the winter. Especially in cold hollows with snow on the ground.

In Burlington, the temperature hasn't even gotten into the teens yet this early winter, which is very odd, since it routinely gets into the single digits and low teens this time of year. We should finally get that cold Sunday morning, with a forecast low of 8 above.

The high pressure will give way later Sunday, and it's beginning to look like we'll have another somewhat stormy week next week. A minor system to start might give us a little snow or rain later Monday

Then, a somewhat stronger storms look like they'll come through 'Tuesday, with mostly rain again as we warm right back up again.  There won't be nearly as much rain as we had Wednesday, so no flooding issues, but this will be another bummer for winter sports fans.

Another somewhat substantial storm looks like it might (or might not!) come through at the end of next week. But it's too soon to figure out how that one will take shape.