Lake-effect bonanza ends with icy homes, 4 feet of snow

An unusually strong lake-effect event is over, leaving behind 4 feet of snow and homes encased in ice.

An unusually strong lake-effect episode (due to lack of ice on the Great Lakes) for this time of year spanned Leap Day 2020 to drop 4 feet of snow in parts of New York state. Meanwhile on the shore, extreme winds encased homes in ice.

Lake-effect snow amounts Thursday through Saturday

Snow depth and 72-hour snowfall plots on Sunday, March 1, 2020. Click to enlarge.

In Croghan, New York, shown above with 42 inches of snow, I found a NYS Mesonet camera that showed over 3 feet of snow burying a snow stick and fence:

Comparison of webcam at Croghan, New York, showing accumulation of more than 3 feet of lake-effect snow

On Lake Erie, there was almost no ice at all. This allowed not only unusually heavy snow to stream off the lake, but allowed for the spray to accumulate as ice on the homes.

On Friday, as the lake effect was just beginning, high winds up to 66 mph spread across the Northeast (not shown here: a gust of 132 mph at typically windy Mount Washington, New Hampshire).

Wind Gusts Thursday night into Friday 2/27/2020.

A "seiche" also occurred, which is similar to the "storm surge" of a hurricane, with the Buffalo water level gauge having a rise of about 2.5 feet.

Some thundersnow was also present in the lake-effect bands south of Watertown, New York:

Here are some selected radar loops from the event:

Radar loop from Friday evening 2/27 to Saturday evening 2/28