Maximum Snowfall: Lake Erie 24" (Perrysburg); Lake Ontario 30" (Hannibal)

Duration: 24 hours +/-

Prime Feature: Potent west northwest event with clipper complications.

True winter continued to deepen across the region during the last week of the month and with the lakes still open and warmer than usual due to the earlier mild winter, the lake effect machine cranked into high gear once again after only a brief two day respite. A 280 flow set up during Monday morning the 29^th and set up an intense narrow band off Lake Ontario which focused on the 3 county border of Wayne-Cayuga-Oswego. This band moved little for 4 to 6 hours, and dropped snow at the rate of up to 5 inches per hour! 20-30 inches fell in a 10 miles wide area centered on Fair Haven and Hannibal. The flow backed a bit later in the day and sent the band north across central Oswego county with up to 6 inches before settling south again after midnight and dissipating. The Erie activity took a different trend, unusually so, but a weak Alberta "Clipper" approached the area from the west and eventually passed right over WNY. This allowed the winds to behave differently on Erie than they did on Ontario. Heavy lake snow developed across Chautauqua county in the early afternoon, and then slowly but steadily drifted north as the flow backed ahead of the approaching low. However, the flow was confluent over the Niagara Peninsula as it bumped into the strong WNW flow over Lake Ontario. So, the band moved north across Buffalo's southtowns in the evening and dropped a healthy 5 to 10 inches, but broke apart just as it reached the city, only an inch fell from Buffalo north. The low disrupted this activity as it approached. Still, upwards of two feet fell during the day over the Chautauqua Ridge, and up to a foot south of Buffalo.

The event was potent and intense but did not affect a very large population center. Still, it earns a healthy three *** stars.

Here are some representative reports.

Off of Lake Erie...

Location	Snowfall
Perrsyburg	24 inches
Arkwright	23 inches
Cassadaga	18 inches
Mayville	15 inches
Hamburg	10 inches
Orchard Park	9 inches
West Seneca	7 inches
Warsaw	6 inches
Buffalo	1 to 2 inches

Location	Snowfall
Hannibal	30 inches
Red Creek	24 inches
Fair Haven	21 inches
West Monroe	8 inches
Constantia	8 inches
Syracuse	3 to 8 inches


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