Event Summary

With cold air in place, as an Alberta Clipper moved southeast across the Ohio Valley, it weakened and redeveloped off the DELMARVA Coast during Saturday, January 22nd. This low rapidly intensified as it moved south of Long Island Saturday night and offshore Sunday. These systems produced near blizzard conditions with heavy snow, strong and gusty winds, blowing snow, and drifting snow. Widespread moderate beach erosion and minor tidal flooding occurred across the Atlantic Ocean shores and east end from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning, January 23rd. Light snow spread northeast across the region between 11 am and 1 pm, although patches of light snow occurred across the twin forks of Long Island between 9 am and 10 am. It quickly became heavy, falling at a rate of at least 1 inch per hour, between 1 pm and 3 pm and lasted until between 7 pm and 11 pm. Across the Lower Hudson Valley, temperatures rose from the single digits into the teens as northeast winds increased up to 15 to 25 mph during this time. Across New York City and Long Island, temperatures rose from the teens into the 20s as northeast winds increased up to 20 to 30 mph during this time. Driving was hazardous and there were widespread impacts to mass transit. As the snowfall intensity decreased during Saturday night, north winds increased to 20 to 30 mph with gusts between 35 and 50 mph. A few peak gusts near 65 mph occurred across the twin forks of Long Island. Peak gusts at Shinnecock Inlet and Orient Point were measured at 64 and 63 mph, respectively. This caused blowing and drifting snow through Sunday, January 23rd. Storm total snowfalls ranged from around 7 to 20 inches across the region. Most locations measured between 8 and 16 inches. Here are selected snowfall amounts for: Bronx County - from 6.5 inches at Throgs Neck to 11.6 inches at Parkchester. New York County (Manhattan) - from 13.0 inches at Chinatown to 13.8 inches at Central Park. Richmond County (Staten Island) - from 16.0 inches at Eltingville to 17.0 inches at Dongan Hills. Kings County (Brooklyn) - from 15.1 inches at Brooklyn to 17.5 inches at Sheepshead Bay. Queens County - from 11.1 inches at LaGuardia Airport to 15.5 inches at Fresh Meadows. At John F. Kennedy Airport, 11.8 inches of snow was measured.