A Classification of High Impact Snowstorms in Oneonta, NY.

The city of Oneonta in Central New York State is susceptible to high-impact winter storms. However, the lack of nearby official weather observations until the development of the New York State Mesonet (Brotzge et al (2020)) has made it difficult to determine which types of snowstorms have the most impact on this community. The goal of this study is to analyze the history of major winter storms to discover which types of storms impact Oneonta most frequently. SUNY Oneonta holds an extensive database of daily weather observations dating back to 1983. The dataset was used to identify snowstorms that occurred in Oneonta, NY that dropped at least 10 inches of snow. North American Regional Reanalysis was utilized to research each storm and identify where each formed. Mean sea level pressure and surface temperature output were used to get a clearer picture of the storms and weed out any irregularities in the data. Storms then were classified based on a scheme developed by Hartnett (2020). Storms that occurred in Oneonta from 1983-Present could be classified into 8 categories, but 4 dominant categories were identified: Gulf Coast, Northern East Coast, Southern East Coast and Rocky Low. A better understanding of the most severe snowstorms could help the region plan for impacts when these events occur.