LAKE
EFFECT STORM "KORAT"
FEBRUARY
13-14, 2006
Lake Flake
scale: ** 2 Flakes
Maximum Snowfall: Lk.
Erie: 9" (Alden, Elma). Lk. Ontario: 14" (Copenhagen).
Duration: 24 Hours +/-
Prime Feature: Strong
winds, squally, long fetch, meandering bands, late season.
Lake Flake Scale: ** 2 Flakes
The season's
11th event was a relatively brief but fairly intense one, and a bit
unusual in the fact that
Lake Erie
was unfrozen and contributed to the activity in the Buffalo
area, highly unusual this late in the season when the
Lake
is usually filled with ice.
The
region was locked in a very cold airmass, at least by this year's standards,
with 850 mb temps in
the -13c range, the flow was westerly at first, but a strong trof moving across
the Central Lakes
added moisture to the low levels and raised the inversion enough to increase
lake effect activity east
of the lakes around midday and early afternoon Monday 13th.
The winds backed to southwest as the
trof approached, sending lake snows north into metro
Buffalo
by mid and late afternoon. Strong winds
of up to 40 mph caused local whiteouts for an hour or two, creating treacherous
travel conditions with several accidents. The activity lifted north into the northern suburbs during
the evening, then settled south across the area during the wee hours Tuesday after the trof passed. Warm
advection then set
in Tuesday morning with activity weakening and moving north again, dissipating
by late morning. The strong winds allowed bursts of snow to reach as far as the
Rochester
area at times, with two inches there. Accumulations ranged from 3 to 7 inches across most of metro
Buffalo, slightly higher to the east.
The
activity followed a similar scenario east of
Lake
Ontario,
albeit 3 to 4 hours later. The activity was also a bit more intense and lingered
longer, enough to give a foot to the Watertown
area, and much of central Jefferson and northern Lewis counties. This was a
brief event with limited accumulations, but strong winds did cause some impact,
especially since it focused on the heavily populated Buffalo
metro area, and Watertown
as well. It therefore earns two ** Stars **.
Off Lake
Erie
|
Alden |
9 inches |
| Elma |
9 inches |
| West
Seneca |
7
inches |
| Lancaster |
6
inches |
| E.
Aurora |
6
inches |
| Cheektowaga |
5
inches |
| Buffalo |
4
inches |
| Rochester |
2
inches |
Off Lake
Ontario
|
Copenhagen |
14 inches |
| Hooker |
12 inches |
| Watertown |
12
inches |
| Carthage |
12 inches |
| Oswego |
8
inches |
| N.
Ocseola |
8
inches |
| Lowville |
6
inches |
| Boonville |
4
inches |