Event Summary

Southeast New York received a heavy snowfall on the 11th and 12th of January from surface low pressure tracking up the Atlantic seaboard and then rapidly intensifying as it tracked just southeast of Long Island in response to an intense upper level disturbance. Light snow overspread the region Tuesday evening ahead of low pressure and then became heavy with embedded thunderstorms Tuesday night as low pressure rapidly intensified. Some sleet and rain mixed in across eastern Long Island. As the upper level disturbance worked over the region late Tuesday night a semi-stationary north to south band of very heavy snow developed just east of the Hudson River into the New York City metropolitan area, gradually pivoting east Wednesday morning through early Wednesday afternoon. This band was responsible for snowfall rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour. In total, Eastern Long Island received 10 to 18 inches, with a few lower amounts across coastal Nassau County. New York City received 7 to 12 inches and the Lower Hudson Valley received 8 to 16 inches. In New York City, the snow arrived shortly before 9:00 pm Tuesday January 11, 2011, and heavy snow fell throughout the night. At Central Park, 9.1 inches of snow fell for the event, which ended early Wednesday January 12, 2010. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that New York City's response to the latest bout of snow was very different than during the blizzard a few weeks ago. Bloomberg indicated the city's goal was the most effective snow response ever. A Weather Emergency was declared by the New York City Mayor's Office around 6:00 pm Tuesday evening. He declared the snow response a success in a news conference and credited the emergency declaration for helping to keep cars off the street. Regarding area airports, hundreds of international and domestic flights were cancelled and postponed, but delays were not as bad as during the Holiday Blizzard.