An Operational Forecast Perspective of the Historic Buffalo N.Y. Blizzard of December 2022

A “once in a generation” storm left its mark on the City of Buffalo during the holiday weekend of 2022. Thirty-seven consecutive hours of lake effect blizzard conditions were accompanied by hurricane force winds and wind chill temperatures falling to the single digits. This wasn’t an ordinary lake effect snow event that occurs downwind of Lake Erie in a given winter. The Blizzard of 2022 struck with a vengeance and left a community devastated during a holiday weekend.

This presentation will show the evolution of the storm as it moved through the Great Lakes region, including how the situation changed extremely rapidly once an arctic cold front plowed through the region. The community became increasingly desperate as the event unfolded and emergency services became exceedingly restricted. The National Weather Service Meteorologists at the Forecast Office in Buffalo, N.Y. ramped up messaging, products, and services leading up to, during, and after the event. Decision support services including, but not limited to email briefings and conference calls continued at a high rate through the event. Lake effect snow continued for multiple days after blizzard conditions ended making this a five day event. The timing of the storm with respect to the Christmas holiday weekend and how that may have changed the dynamics of the impact of and response to the blizzard will also be discussed.