We (meaning most of us in central and northern New York including the Tug Hill region) had it lucky in November (if you’re not a snow lover) with the lack of snow. Matter of fact, I think we can safely say Syracuse is already well below normal for snowfall for the winter. Why, just in November alone we’re well below normal. Syracuse averages 11 inches of snow in November. We had less than 1 inch. I’d say that’s well below normal.
Despite the lack of snow in November for even the Tug Hill, the pattern is slowly evolving into a more wintry one, and that means fast paced changes with all types of weather conditions.
For instance, from last night (Tuesday night) into today (Wednesday) we’re talking about flood watches, wind advisories and lake effect snow watches. A strong storm slowly working up through the Great Lakes and an attached cold front moved some wet, windy and mild weather in here on Tuesday. About midday today (Wednesday) the cold front will push through sweeping most of the wet weather and all of the mild weather away.
Rainfall amounts were enough to necessitate flood watches for the entire area through Wednesday evening, and southerly winds were gusty enough for wind advisories to be needed.
Behind the cold front, temperatures fall Wednesday afternoon, cold enough that the lake effect snow machine gets going off of Lake Ontario Wednesday Night into Thursday. This direct west wind off the lake could produce some hefty snowfalls, and so a lake effect snow watch was issued specifically for Jefferson and Lewis counties for Wednesday Night through Thursday Night.
By later Thursday Night and Friday, winds should turn more into the northwest which means the lake snows will likely weaken and shift southward into Syracuse, central NY and the western Mohawk Valley. Barring any major changes, I anticipate relatively small amounts in central NY. Conditions should then quiet down slowly through this weekend.
In case you’re wondering how much snow Syracuse averages in the month of December, it’s 29 inches. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were at or below normal for snowfall in December too, generally speaking, but you can be assured snow will be in the forecast at least every once in awhile.
A few other links you might find of interest:
The Priscilla Mahar Animal Welfare Foundation. www.pmawf.org
All Weather Facebook site. Search Precision Weather Service and “like”
