News 4 is looking back at the Blizzard of '22 one year later. All of our stories can be found here.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – As we are approaching Christmas this year, many are remembering last year's Christmas and the historic blizzard that developed. How did the storm stay so bad for so long? Here is a meteorological look at the event and why was it such a rare occurrence.
Looking back to last year, meteorologists locally started to track the robust storm on Dec. 15, 2022 for the upcoming holiday weekend. At an early glance, snow was expected and the coldest air of the season was anticipated going into the holiday weekend. By the morning hours of Dec. 17, there was more of an indication of a strong low-pressure system moving into the central Great Lakes region, which would lead to the potential of strong winds, a lake-effect event, and that frigid air.
Hazardous weather potential for the holiday weekend started to be broadcasted on the morning of Dec. 18 for the approaching storm. Later that same day, mention of significant snow was stated.
As we know now a year later, this event did end up unfolding. On Dec. 23, the "bomb cyclone" hit Western New York. This low-pressure system was known a bomb cyclone because the low's central pressure dropped by 24 millibars in 24 hours, which is defined in meteorology as bombogenesis.
Ahead of the cold front associated with the low pressure system, it was raining in Western New York with temperatures in the 30s. Behind the cold front was a rapid drop in temperatures into the teens and winds chills below zero.
On Dec. 23, a southwest wind with the large gap in lake temperature and air temperature resulted in the ideal set-up for a significant lake-effect event. Blizzard conditions were occurring with winds gusting over 60-70 mph.
Blizzard conditions require winds over 35 mph with a quarter-mile visibility or less, for at least three hours. The criteria was easily met with this event as these conditions lasted for multiple days.
The historic event lasted over the span of five days, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. By the end of the event, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport recorded 51.9 inches of snow.
A day-by-day recap of the blizzard conditions can be seen in this thread: