— Upstate New York today is sharing one of its best-known exports — lake effect snow — with the good people of Providence, Rhode Island. Cold winds are blowing across the lake and then banking over Albany to the southeast, delivering lake effect snow 400 miles away in a band no more than a few miles wide.
Does Albany get a lot of snow?
The US average is 205 sunny days. Albany gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 134 days per year.
Climate Averages.
| Albany, New York | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall | 51.6 in. | 27.8 in. |
| Precipitation | 134.1 days | 106.2 days |
| Sunny | 182 days | 205 days |
| Avg. July High | 83.2° | 85.8° |
Where does lake effect snow occur?
In the U.S. lake effect snow commonly occurs across northern Wisconsin, western Michigan, northwestern New York, northwestern Pennsylvania and the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
What states get lake effect snow?
And the phenomenon can be far-reaching. Lake-effect snow sometimes falls more than 100 miles downwind of the Great Lakes. The mountains of New York state, western, central and northern Pennsylvania, the West Virginia mountains and western Maryland can all get a visit from lake-effect snow.
What part of New York gets the most snow?
Maximum seasonal snowfall, averaging more than 175 inches, occurs on the western and southwestern slopes of the Adirondacks and Tug Hill. A secondary maximum of 150 to 180 inches prevails in the southwestern highlands, 10 to 30 miles inland from Lake Erie.
What are winters like in Albany?
The cold season lasts for 3.3 months, from December 2 to March 11, with an average daily high temperature below 42°F. The coldest month of the year in Albany is January, with an average low of 18°F and high of 32°F.
How many inches of snow does Albany NY get?
The average annual snowfall in downtown Albany NY is 60 inches. The lowest recorded total for the city was 13.8 inches in the winter of 1912-1913. The highest recorded total was 112.5 inches in 1970-1971.
Which of the following cities most commonly experiences lake effect snow?
The region most commonly affected spans from Port Stanley in the west, the Bruce Peninsula in the north, Niagara-on-the-Lake to the east, and Fort Erie to the south. The heaviest accumulations usually happen in the Bruce Peninsula, which is between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.
How far can lake effect snow travel?
All that water picked up from the lake normally travels no further than about 25 miles away before falling, but it can sometimes travel as far as 100 miles away! That moisture can make for a whole lot of snow. Luckily for people living near large lakes, lake effect snow generally slows down around February.
What is the difference between lake effect snow and regular snow?
Lake Effect vs.
There are two main differences between lake effect snowstorms and winter (low pressure) snowstorms: (1) LES are not caused by low-pressure systems, and (2) they’re localized snow events. As a cold, dry air mass moves over the Great Lakes regions, the air picks up lots of moisture from the Great Lakes.
What is the difference between lake-effect and lake enhanced snow?
Lake effect refers to precipitation which is the result of polar (cold and dry) air flowing over warm lake water after passage of a low pressure system. Lake enhanced snows are the result of moving or stationary boundary (such as a front) that is already producing precipitation.
Can you predict lake-effect snow?
The HRRR is NOAA’s hourly updating, short-term weather model, and is the most commonly used weather model for predicting lake-effect snow. But the HRRR needs accurate water surface temperatures to properly estimate evaporation rates from lake surfaces, which is the main driver of lake-effect snow.
What are the dangers of lake-effect snow?
Accidents in New York Caused by Lake Effect Snow
When it hits out of the blue, this weather type can cause slippery surfaces, poor visibility, and lead to challenges in controlling one’s vehicle.
What is the snowiest town in NY?
Syracuse, New York: 127.8 inches
Syracuse takes home the crown as the snowiest city in America, averaging 127.8 inches each winter.
Which state has the worst winter?
1. Alaska. Alaska is the coldest state in the U.S. Alaska’s average temperature is 26.6°F and can go as low as -30°F during the winter months.
What month does NY get the most snow?
February
February is usually the snowiest month in New York City with snowfalls occurring on 3-4 days, with 2 of these days recording 1 inch (2.5 cm) or more and 1 day recording 3 inches (7.6 cm) or more.
Why does it rain so much in Albany?
The reason for the storminess and heavy rain in Upstate New York, meteorologists say, is that we’re caught between the massive heat dome out West and a stubborn high pressure system in the Atlantic Ocean. Those two systems essentially form the sides of a funnel that channels Gulf of Mexico moisture to the Northeast.
How many days of sunshine does Albany NY get?
On average, there are 180 sunny days per year in Albany County. The US average is 205 sunny days. Albany County gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 131 days per year.
What is the coldest month in upstate NY?
January
January is the coldest month in Upstate New York, and also one of the most consistent, temperature-wise. The gap between the average high and low in January in Syracuse is 15.8 degrees, second only to December’s 14 degrees.
When did Albany get snow?
Since then, the most amount of snow to land in one day at Albany is 22.0 inches (55.9 centimetres) on March 13, 1993.
Albany – Extreme Daily Snowfall for Each Year.
| Inches | Date | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|
| 19.7 | December 17, 2020 | 50.0 |
| 13.3 | December 01, 2019 | 33.8 |
| 11.9 | March 02, 2018 | 30.2 |
| 17.0 | March 14, 2017 | 43.2 |
When was the biggest snowstorm in Albany’s history and how much snow did we get?
46.7 inches – March 11-14, 1888
It must have taken a couple weeks to clean up after the biggest snowfall in Albany history.
