Ice Storm — Jefferson, New York

2025-03-29 to 2025-03-30 · Jefferson, New York

Event narrative

Freezing rain accumulation of 0.50 reported by two different sources one in Clayton and the other near Redwood. Additionally, numerous trees and wires were downed in the northern portion of Jefferson county.

Wider weather episode

Wintry weather developed across portions of the Buffalo forecast area as a stationary front draped from west to east provided forcing and a sharp thermal gradient across the region. While mixed precipitation prompted Winter Weather Advisories for counties along the south shore of Lake Ontario and for the North Country, an Ice Storm Warning was necessary for Jefferson County. Northeast drainage flow from the St. Lawrence Valley, provided the cooler low level temperatures to keep surface temperatures below freezing for much longer in areas of far northern Jefferson County, especially north of Route 11 & Route 12. With the steady precipitation and the above freezing temperatures aloft, rain fell into the sub-freezing surface layer, freezing on contact with the ground, trees and other elevated surfaces. Freezing rain/ice accumulations of at least a half inch were reported for a few spots in Northern Jefferson County and numerous trees and wires were downed in these areas well, resulting in at least 2,500 customers without power.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1244575. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.