Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Lewis, New York

2026-01-29 to 2026-01-30 · Lewis, New York

Event narrative

Wind chill value down to -31 Fahrenheit at the NYS Mesonet location in Harrisburg.

Wider weather episode

Passing frontal boundaries and troughs crossing the region with cold air in place setup a lake response off of both Lake Erie and Ontario. With Lake Erie mostly ice covered, the lake effect snow was limited and combined with the movement of what lake effect did setup, snow amounts were limited. However, off of Lake Ontario, a more organized lake band setup down wind of the lake, with Jefferson and Oswego counties receiving snowfall amounts of up to 18 inches.

As colder and drier air moved into the region behind a passing cold front, lake effect snow came to an end on the 29th and temperatures continued to cool into the night of the 29th and morning of the 30th. Overnight lows dropped into the -30s Fahrenheit for areas east of Lake Ontario, with wind chill values down to around -40 Fahrenheit.

Notable snowfall amounts from this event include: 18.0 inches in Oswego, 17.2 inches in Adams, 12.9 inches in Watertown and 8.2 inches in Copenhagen.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1313442. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.