Heavy Snow — New York (manhattan), New York

2003-02-17 · New York (manhattan), New York

Wider weather episode

With an exceptionally strong high pressure system over New England, a low pressure system developed off the Mid Atlantic Coast. Periods of light snow developed as northeast winds increased to around 15 mph across the NYC Metro area Sunday afternoon, February 16th. Snow became widespread and heavy, falling at rates up to 2 to 3 inches per hour Sunday night and Monday, February 17th. Heavy snow blown by northeast winds 20 to 30 mph caused near blizzard conditions throughout the area. Record heavy snowfalls crippled mass transit. These extremely hazardous weather conditions led to local emergency declarations throughout the region. In New York City, the cost estimate for total snowfall operations was around 20 million dollars. In addition, widespread moderate beach erosion and minor tidal flooding accompanied this system.Storm Total Snowfall ranged from around 14 to 28 inches.Here are selected specific snowfall amounts for:Orange County: from 14.0 inches at Port Jervis to 28.0 inches at Tuxedo.Putnam County: from 15.5 inches at West Mahopac to 20.0 inches at Carmel.Rockland County: from 18.0 inches at Nyack to 24.3 inches at Sparkill.Westchester County: from 14.5 inches at Croton On Hudson to 26.0 inches at Thornwood.New York City: from 15.5 inches at Marine Park in Brooklyn to 25.6 inches at JFK Airport. At the Central Park Zoo, 19.8 inches was measured. At LaGuardia Airport, 16.5 inches was measured.Nassau County: from 14.1 inches at Valley Stream to 23.5 inches at Farmingdale.Suffolk County: from 14.0 inches at Islip and Manorville to 24.0 inches at Bohemia and Bridgehampton. At the National Weather Service Office in Upton, 21.1 inches was measured.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5344494. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.