LAKE EFFECT STORM "CHARTREUX"

DECEMBER 2-3, 2005

Maximum Snowfall: Lk. Erie: 18" (Jamestown); Lk. Ontario: 27 " (Point Rock).

Lake Flake Scale: *** 3 Flakes

The 2005-06 season’s third event began with a general synoptic inch or so during the evening of Dec 1st, then set up strongly off Lake Erie during the early morning of Friday (2nd) but to a lesser degree off Lake Ontario. Then a sharp frontal trof crossed the region during the midday and early afternoon hours on Friday, giving everyone a burst of snow, but disrupting the bands. Then the flow turned more northwesterly Friday night before backing a bit during Saturday. The bulk of the Lake Erie snow fell Friday, with only an inch or two Friday night into Saturday due to loss of upstream Lake connection and more shear, but the more intense activity off Lake Ontario was Friday night and Saturday as a good upper Lake connection was evident.

Snowfall amounts were impressive…and interestingly, were focused well inland rather than along the lakeshore. This is not unusual for Lake Erie, where Dunkirk and Westfield often get less, but the maximum near Jamestown was unusual. More unusual were the relatively low amounts along the lakeshore on the Ontario band, with just 3-6 inches from Sodus to Oswego…while over 18” fell across southeast Oswego, Onondaga (including metro Syracuse), and northern Oneida counties. The event had healthy accumulations over a narrow area, but affected a large population, Jamestown in the west and Syracuse across central New York. It earns a healthy *** 3 Stars ***