Lake-Effect Snow — Madison, New York

2025-11-28 to 2025-11-29 · Madison, New York

Event narrative

Lake effect snow accumulated between 7 and 18 inches.

Wider weather episode

An upper level trough of low pressure pushed through the Great Lakes region beginning on Thursday, the 27th initially producing west-southwesterly winds off the eastern Great Lakes. This led to the development of lake effect snow showers downwind of Lake Ontario north of Oneida County, but lake effect snow off of Lake Erie brought accumulating snow over Steuben County where a Winter Weather Advisory was in effect. As the trough lifted to the north and east, the flow became more west-northwesterly and combined with an injection of colder air, a more significant lake effect snow event began to set up early on Friday, the 28th. The lake effect band off of Lake Ontario dropped south, impacting areas near and north of the I-90 corridor. Multi-lake connections helped to enhance not only this main band of snow that streamed over north-central NY, but also a secondary Lake Huron to Lake Ontario band that set up farther south. The heaviest snowfall was observed over Onondaga, Madison and Oneida Counties into the 29th, and this is where Lake Effect Snow Warnings were in effect with Winter Weather Advisories for the adjacent counties. Lake effect snow showers continued into Saturday, then as the upper low drifted farther to the north, the flow became more southerly bringing an end to the lake effect. Strong winds accompanied this system with gusts upward of 40 to 50 mph recorded.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1298836. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.