5 feet of record lake-effect snow in Pennsylvania, New York on Christmas!

By Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather meteorologist

12/28/2017, 1:41:57 PM

Share this article:

Erie, Pennsylvania, racked up over 65 inches of lake-effect snow on Christmas Day and the day after.

We have photos from the event, and the NWS in Cleveland has posted this list of final snowfall totals and Erie records from this lake-effect event:

The state of Pennsylvania's two-day record snowfall was broken, as well as Erie's one-day snowfall, Christmas Day snowfall and December snowfall records. This is what the final map looks like:

How did this happen? Very simply, a continuous west, cold wind for over 48 hours, which drew moisture up to form clouds and snow, which kept tracking east, "training" over the same areas.

It wasn't just Pennsylvania -- the favored lake-effect area around Oswego County, New York, also got over 5 feet of snow... breaking records there too. These webcams show before-and-after pictures from New York state, courtesy NorthernChateau.com:

And finally, the Erie newspaper from Dec. 26:

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

Comments

Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

Jesse Ferrell

Is the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii dumping feet of rain?

Jesse Ferrell - July 16, 2018, 2:51:13 PM EDT

The big island of Hawaii is getting a lot of rain - is Kilauea to blame?
Reed Timmer records close lightning strike in 360 video

Jesse Ferrell - July 06, 2018, 12:04:35 PM EDT

Reed Timmer has recorded rare footage of a close lightning strike in a 360 video.
Volcano-nadoes? A whole lot of twisting is going on at Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano

Jesse Ferrell - July 16, 2018, 1:25:29 PM EDT

A whirlwind of lava captured the public's attention, but it's not the first vortex with Kilauea.
Tornadoes hit near Greensburg, Pennsylvania (again)

Jesse Ferrell - June 28, 2018, 8:03:49 PM EDT

After a major tornado struck Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 2011, a couple of smaller twisters formed south of town yesterday.
How can we quantify the coming heat wave?

Jesse Ferrell - June 26, 2018, 2:31:24 PM EDT

It's not the heat, it's the records and ensemble forecasts.
Rare Cat 3 hurricane in Arabian Sea; Alberto to flood holiday weekend

Jesse Ferrell - May 25, 2018, 2:00:36 PM EDT

Cyclone Mekunu is making a rare, major hurricane hit on Oman and Yemen, while Alberto picks a place to flood on Memorial Day Weekend.
Is a derecho coming to the mid-Atlantic?

Jesse Ferrell - May 14, 2018, 3:25:56 PM EDT

It's been a while since we had a good derecho in the mid-Atlantic, but this evening will be close.
Where in the U.S. gets both extreme snow and severe thunderstorms?

Jesse Ferrell - May 25, 2018, 11:34:28 AM EDT

A Facebook reader from Europe asked where he could move in the United States to experience both extreme snow and severe thunderstorms.