Top 3 Snowiest Days for GSB Cities

Posted by Stephen on December 19, 2010
Posted in: Uncategorized.

With Syracuse having taken over the updates on the site (and deservedly so), I figured it was about time to shift the focus off of the current contest, especially since it’s been a fairly calm period for the GSB cities. There was a pretty good discussion on the previous update about the snowiest days ever recorded in Syracuse. That discussion is the inspiration for this post, the top three snowiest days for each of the GSB cities.

Albany:
1. 30.4 (March 12, 1888)
2. 23.5 (February 14, 1914)
3. 22.0 (March 13, 1993)

Binghamton:
1. 21.0 (February 19, 1972)
2. 18.6 (March 13, 1993)
3. 18.4 (January 13, 1964)

Buffalo:
1. 33.9 (December 10, 1995)
2. 26.2 (December 28, 2001)
3. 24.9 (November 20, 2000)

Rochester:
1. 23.0 (January 3, 1996)
2. 22.3 (March 4, 1999)
3. 18.4 (March 6, 1999 and February 14, 1960)

Syracuse:
1. 22.1 (March 13, 1993)
2. 22.0 (January 31, 1966)
3. 20.8 (February 4, 1961)

18 comments on “Top 3 Snowiest Days for GSB Cities”

  1. This storm is so odd. The forecast on Monday morning said an inch or two, and then later in the day I heard 3 – 7 inches overnight, but when I got up this morning, there was just a dusting. There's snow "showers" in the forecast for the next couple days, but now I don't know what to believe!!

  2. ZR, thanks for the heads up 🙂 Been off the computer for a few days now and was hoping I didn't miss that. Gonna blog about it now!!!

  3. Danielle, I was thinking the sam as you. I watched the storm most of the day hoping it would come further west but it never happened. We still may be able to grab a couple inches though. If not the all time monthly record may have to wait until January, lol.

  4. Leonard, thanks for the links and sorry it took so long to reply. Christmas stuff 🙂

    I did catch the article and had fun with the reporter. Was just trying to bust Buffalo's butt for it 🙂 Thanks again 🙂

  5. Snowiest December on record…

    RECORD EVENT REPORT
    NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
    0840 AM EST MON DEC 27 2010

    $$

    …RECORD DECEMBER MAXIMUM SNOWFALL SET AT ROCHESTER NY…

    AT THE ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 0.2 TENTHS OF AN INCH OF SNOW
    FELL SUNDAY DECEMBER 26TH. WITH THIS SNOW A NEW MARK FOR SNOWIEST
    DECEMBER ON RECORD HAS BEEN SET. TOTAL TO DATE FOR MONTHLY SNOW IN
    ROCHESTER NOW STANDS AT 46.4 INCHES. THE OLD RECORD OF 46.2 INCHES
    WAS SET BACK IN DECEMBER OF 2008. RECORDS FOR SNOWFALL GO BACK TO
    1884-1885 FOR ROCHESTER, NY.

  6. Weird to be watching it snow everywhere but here! We (Syracuse) could still break the snowiest month record, if we get a couple inches from this storm, and a couple more before the week ends. Not looking good though.

  9. Bill from NJ,
    This is one question that is hard to answer. It's not for lack of answers, as much as it is trying to figure out which one is the "true" answer.

    My initial belief was that climate records are from 1950 to present, or since Hancock Airport was built. So, anything from before then would not be included in the current stats.

    However, the article that Pat linked to, which I'm guessing is the same that you are referencing, indicates records go back to 1922. The page at http://www.erh.noaa.gov/bgm/cli/syrcli.html also seems to verify that as well. Sure enough, when you check January, 1945 (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/bgm/cli/syr/jan45.syr), there is a date that has 23 inches, but it's not the 25th as you said, or the 23rd like Pat (and the article) stated. Instead, it's the 22nd. I'm not sure why that is the case, but perhaps this is a clue as to why the 23 inches is not a part of the records.

    The kicker in all of this is that the data I used, from the NWS, goes back to 1902. Where do these extra 20 years come from? I have no idea. Why was January xx, 1945 not in the data? Don't know that one either.

    Until I can find out more information, for now I'll say it's my original belief: climate data from Hancock (the current official NWS site for Syracuse) only goes back to 1950. So, anything before that would not be a part of official records.

  10. Charles, thanks for the info. That's a lot of snow for a LES event. As for the difference with 38 and and 30. The report says that 38 inches fell in a 24 hour period, December 9 – 10, 1995 and not in one day. Thanks again for the info 😉

  12. Anon, probably a mix of both 🙂 Just guessing though!

    Anon, I just looked around and came across an old archive of the post dated March 15th, 1993 that says Jan. 23, 1945 received 23 inches of snow. We came up with different dates but the number was 23 😉 Here is more and it's pretty interesting reading. It is a PDF file.

    Scroll down about halfway on the right:

    http://blog.syracuse.com/indepth/2007/12/1993snowpages.pdf

  13. I have a Post-Standard article from March 15, 1993 that states that January 25th, 1945 had 23 inches on that day. That would make these top 3 as numbers 2-4. (I was born in Syr. on November 30, 1944 which is listed as #5 with 20.1".)

    Bill from NJ

  16. I was a 12-year-old living in Syracuse during the Blizzard of 66. I remember the 20' drifts. How come I remember the snowfall as 84" in the city? Everything I can find in the web says there was only 40-odd inches.

  17. "Hello, Weather Bureau? It's about this 20 inches of 'partly cloudy' in my driveway!"

    Circa February 1971 to Pete Chastain @ Rochester NY Weather Bureau

  18. Pretty interesting stats Stephen. What stands out the most to me is Albany's 30.4 inches of snow. My guess is there was a blizzard for all of Albany's highest months???

    One thing, should Syracuse's 22 inches be 1966 instead of 1996? Great info and thanks for taking the time 😉

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