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[webny99]

For example, I work in Webster, NY. We got steady snow all day yesterday. It dumped over six inches and turned the roads white and slippery. I got home to find clear roads and no new snowfall except for a few flurries in the air. I live around 10 miles from work. I have never seen anything so absurd in my life.

Unlike other recent weather threads, this is not to be strictly snow- or winter-related.

[vdeane]

Lake effect bands are often quite specific about where they hit.  Nothing unusual about that.

[jeffandnicole]

Snow lines, and Snow/Rain lines, can be dramatic.  In the area I plow, I've seen nothing at one end of my zone, and a mess at the other end.

Lake Effect snows are very particular this these variables.  Just look at average snowfalls for towns near the Great Lakes, and they can verify considerably.

[webny99]

Lake effect bands are often quite specific about where they hit.  Nothing unusual about that.

Of course. However, I have never seen that dramatic a difference between two places I frequent. So this is the first time I can offer anecdotal evidence to prove your statement true.

In my experience, Lake Erie is the most famous of the Great Lakes for producing narrow, intense bands. Lake Ontario snows tend to be more widespread, with more gradual changes in intensity and total accumulation. I find it is rare that only portions of the Rochester area get snow. Total accumulation may differ by an inch or two, but if it's snowing, it will almost always be area-wide. Buffalo, on the other hand, is famous for getting feet of snow in the Southtowns and no accumulation north of the city. Of course, I have no statistics to back this theory up, but I intend to stand by it anyways.

[vdeane]

I've seen bands like that along I-81.  And Rochester ones can be tight too.  I remember one clinching trip I took where stuff along the parkway had heavy snow while NY 18 was fine.

[Brandon]

Wacky?  Um, there this thing called winter with lake-effect snow bands, happens every year.  Maybe you've heard of it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

[webny99]

Wacky?  Um, there this thing called winter with lake-effect snow bands, happens every year.  Maybe you've heard of it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

What is your standard of "wacky"?

Lake effect snow, which of course I know all about, is certainly one of nature's absurdities, despite the fact that it occurs every year. And that happened to be the most "wacky" weather event I've experienced recently. What did you expect, me to say I was picked up in a tornado and survived?

Also:

Unlike other recent weather threads, this is not to be strictly snow- or winter-related.

[Desert Man]

I'm in the CA desert where we're warm...including our mild winters. The highs at 78F/ 25C is pretty good for anywhere during winter. It won't be normal anywhere else between Christmas and New Years day... except southernmost Texas and most of Florida, on the other side of the country.

[Hurricane Rex]

Thundersnow, anyone? That is pretty rare.

[Brandon]

Thundersnow, anyone? That is pretty rare.

Now that is an event.  It's enough to make Cantore go nuts. 

[ET21]

Lake effect bands are often quite specific about where they hit.  Nothing unusual about that.

Of course. However, I have never seen that dramatic a difference between two places I frequent. So this is the first time I can offer anecdotal evidence to prove your statement true.

In my experience, Lake Erie is the most famous of the Great Lakes for producing narrow, intense bands. Lake Ontario snows tend to be more widespread, with more gradual changes in intensity and total accumulation. I find it is rare that only portions of the Rochester area get snow. Total accumulation may differ by an inch or two, but if it's snowing, it will almost always be area-wide. Buffalo, on the other hand, is famous for getting feet of snow in the Southtowns and no accumulation north of the city. Of course, I have no statistics to back this theory up, but I intend to stand by it anyways.

It's quite common for that to happen with LES bands, especially if you start involving meso-lows. These are small circulations that develop within the instability of the lake water and cold air combo. These could produce snowfall rates of 3"+ per hour if they make it onshore and have been noted to produce waterspouts as well.

Now that is wacky, a waterspout enveloped in snow!!

[Hurricane Rex]

Thundersnow, anyone? That is pretty rare.

Now that is an event.  It's enough to make Cantore go nuts. 

Oh and the remix version of that I still listen to this day.

[webny99]

We've had an interesting roller coaster the past few weeks. We dropped below freezing before Christmas and didn't get above freezing until just a few days ago, accumulating over a foot of snow in that time.

Then a rapid warm-up with temps in the 50's on both Thursday and Friday, melting all but the largest snow piles and reminding us what grass looks like.

Now plummeting temperatures and 18 inches of snow last night, such that we went from a foot of snow, to no snow at all, to a fresh 18 inches all within 48 hours