Lake-Effect Snow — Southern Erie, Pennsylvania

2022-01-25 to 2022-01-26 · Southern Erie, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Several bands of lake effect snow developed over the eastern basin of Lake Erie on January 25 and remained fairly unorganized as they pushed into western New York. Some colder air moved into the region during the evening hours and convergence over the lake allowed these bands to become more organized as they drifted southward into Erie County, Pennsylvania. During the early morning hours on January 26, snow grew in intensity with 1 to 2 inches of snow per hour rates and snow exhibiting a likely 20 to 25 snow to liquid ratio for a light and fluffy lake effect event. These more intense bands of snow caused road conditions and visibility on Interstate 90 to decrease dramatically during the morning commute hours on January 26 and numerous accidents occurred on the highway, prompting several brief closures. For the southern Erie County forecast zone, there was a jack-knifed tractor trailer in Fairview Township at Mile Marker 18 on Interstate 90 and a multi-vehicle incident, including multiple tractor trailers between Exits 32 and 35 westbound on Interstate 90. Luckily, there were no injuries reported with any of these incidents. The highest snowfall total with this event was 11 inches of snow in Greenfield Township. Other selected snowfall totals include: 10 inches in Summit Township, 7.5 inches in Greene Township, and 6.3 inches in North East Township.

Wider weather episode

Several bands of lake effect snow developed over the eastern basin of Lake Erie on January 25 and remained fairly unorganized as they pushed into western New York. Some colder air moved into the region during the evening hours and convergence over the lake allowed these bands to become more organized as they drifted southward into Erie County, Pennsylvania. During the early morning hours on January 26, snow grew in intensity with 1 to 2 inches of snow per hour rates and snow exhibiting a likely 20 to 25 snow to liquid ratio for a light and fluffy lake effect event. These more intense bands of snow caused road conditions and visibility on Interstate 90 to decrease dramatically during the morning commute hours on January 26 and numerous accidents occurred on the highway, prompting several brief closures. Known accidents from this event on Interstate 90 including a jack-knifed tractor trailer in Fairview Township at Mile Marker 18, a multi-vehicle incident, including multiple tractor trailers between Exits 32 and 35 westbound, and a jack-knifed tractor trailer in North East Township at Mile Marker 40.5. Luckily, there were no injuries reported with any of these incidents. The highest snowfall total with this event was 11 inches of snow in Greenfield Township. Other selected snowfall totals include: 10.2 inches in Erie, 10 inches in Summit Township, 9.6 inches in Girard, 8.9 inches at Erie International Airport, 8 inches in Lake City, 7.5 inches in Greene Township and Harborcreek, and 6.3 inches in North East Township.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1041914. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.