Dreaming of a White Christmas: A Review of the 25-26
December 2017 Lake Effect Snow Event in Erie, Pennsylvania (315)
Zach Sefcovic, National
Weather Service, Cleveland, Ohio
Abstract:
Significant winter weather
events are not uncommon to Erie, Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. Erie lies
in the favorable snow belt region of the Lake Erie basin that spans from
northeastern Ohio through northwestern Pennsylvania into western New York. The
climate site at Erie International Airport receives on average 100.9 inches of
snow per year with a majority of that snowfall occurring in December and
January. On average, the Erie area typically sees about five warning criteria
events each winter season, in which 8 or more inches of snowfall in a 24 hour
period.
On 24 December 2017, a
deepening synoptic low pressure system moved through the Ohio Valley and into
the northeast. Some minor accumulations of snow fell across much of the Ohio
Valley as the low moved through the area. However, as the low pressure system
departed, winds veered over Lake Erie, allowing for lake effect snow to set up
over the Erie area for Christmas Day. Over 5 feet of snow fell over the city of
Erie during the 60 hours that followed. During a 24 hour period spanning
portions of 25-26 December, 50.8 inches of snow was measured at Erie
International Airport, a 24 hour record for the state of Pennsylvania.
This presentation will
overview the synoptic and mesoscale conditions that allowed for an extreme lake
effect snow event in Erie, Pennsylvania. This event will be placed into a
context with other significant lake effect snow events across the Lake Erie
basin and will include a brief discussion of favorable band type for extreme
lake effect snow events. An examination of forecast and observational
challenges for Erie will be reviewed, including radar coverage limitations and
the usefulness of GOES-16 when radar is insufficient. This presentation will
also analyze the NWS Cleveland snow spotter network and show totals from across
the region during the event. Finally, there will be a brief overview of the
State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) and the vetting of the Pennsylvania
state snowfall records that were challenged after this event.