High Wind — Delaware, New York

2025-02-17 · Delaware, New York

Event narrative

The New York State Mesonet station at Roxbury measured a wind gust of 64 mph.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moving across the area during the evening hours of the 16th initially led to some light snow and a quick drop in temperatures, rapidly freezing any wet or untreated surfaces. Very strong, locally damaging winds developed in the wake of the front resulting in wind advisories and high wind warnings to be in place through the evening of Monday, the 17th. One location reported a wind gust greater than 58 mph during this time. With the much colder air streaming in across the Great Lakes, lake effect snow began to develop later in the evening of the 16th and then became more organized and intense on the 17th as a multi-lake connection developed.

The intense lake effect snow band lifted north during the afternoon of the 17th and continued to bring heavy snow to Oneida County through the night of the 18th, while Onondaga and Madison Counties got a brief reprieve from the steadiest lake effect snow. The heavy lake effect snow combined with the strong winds led to near zero visibility and blizzard-like conditions. Snowfall rates in the intense band reached 2 to 4 inches/hour. Additional snow showers continued into early Wednesday before coming to an end as high pressure moved in. This prolonged lake effect snow event combined with previous rounds of lake effect snow led to the damage of or collapse of dozens of structures, mostly across northern Oneida County as the culmination of the weight of the heavy, wet snow became too much. With some of the structures being barns, there was the loss of livestock as well. Also, the collapse of a sunroom roof in Rome, NY resulted in serious injuries to the homeowner when it fell on him.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1238909. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.