Maximum Snowfall: Lake Erie 4" (Colden) Lake Ontario 14" (Hooker)

Duration: 18 hours +/-

Prime Feature: Windy. Marginal event.

The region was raked with strong damaging winds on Wed. January 30^th following the passage of a strong cold front in the morning. A strong 240-250 flow set up for the midday and afternoon hours but winds were so strong that lake bands were unable to really get organized, just intense cellular squalls occurred within the lake effect areas downwind from each lake. There was very dry air upstream as well. Only an inch or two fell during the day Wednesday but individual squalls were intense and strong winds resulting in whiteout conditions at times. This resulted in many road closures including the NYS Thruway from Buffalo to Rochester.

The winds began to subside Wed. evening and allowed for a better fetch, but drier air off Erie kept accumulations meager. However, the band east of Lake Ontario became better organized and did drop significant amounts on a strip across the northern Tug Hill and central Lewis county. The activity weakened Thursday morning and drifted south across Oswego county with an inch or two before getting squished by the inversion midday.

This event was marginal in regards to snow amounts and population, but strong winds and blowing snow made for some widespread difficult conditions and road closures Wednesday. It therefore earns two ** stars.

Here are some representative reports.

Off of Lake Ontario...

Location	Snowfall
Hooker	14 inches
Barnes Corners	10 inches
Lowville	7 inches
Watertown	4 inches


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