Abdelrahman
Syracuse, N.Y. — Growing up in a region known for its lake effect snow, Patricia Redhead certainly understands winter weather.
However, this winter has surpassed all expectations.
“This is truly remarkable, I must admit,” stated Redhead, who serves as the supervisor for the town of Palermo in Oswego County. “Typically, there’s a brief pause to clean up before the next round hits. Instead, we’ve been bombarded day after day.”
Palermo has experienced a snow deluge, with flakes falling on 12 of the last 13 days, as reported by the National Weather Service. The town currently holds the record for the highest snowfall in Central New York this month, accumulating a staggering 77.8 inches.
“And it’s coming down heavily,” Redhead remarked this morning.
This photograph was taken from the home of Faithh Reome in Palermo, Oswego County, where the town has recorded a remarkable snow total of 78 inches and counting this month, marking the highest accumulation in Central New York.Faithh Reome
Forecasts indicate Palermo may receive an additional 2 to 3 feet of snow by Wednesday, as all of Oswego County remains under a lake effect snow advisory until 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Recently, there were days when Palermo only saw 1 to 2 inches of snow. However, Tuesday saw nearly 19 inches accumulate, followed by an astonishing 27 inches on Saturday.
“Our highway department has been tirelessly working,” Redhead remarked. “One night, they worked almost around the clock, starting at 3 a.m. and concluding after 11:30 p.m. before we sent them home for a bit of rest.”
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Lake effect snow tends to fall in concentrated bands, often leading to extreme accumulations in narrow areas while just nearby sees little to no snowfall. Palermo has found itself situated right in the path of several of these intense bands.
Forecasts indicate that an additional 2 to 3 feet of lake effect snow is expected through Wednesday in Central New York, primarily affecting areas that have already seen heavy snowfall over the previous week.National Weather Service
This winter season has seen an extraordinary amount of lake effect snow across Tug Hill and Central New York. Remarkably, the village of Copenhagen in Lewis County has earned the title of the snowiest inhabited location in the U.S., having recorded over 300 inches thus far.
The direction of the wind plays a crucial role in determining which areas receive heavy snow and which do not, and this year’s winds have predominantly been from the west rather than the northwest. An earlier storm in January released over 5 feet of snow just north of Utica, an area not typically favored in terms of lake effect snowfall.
Syracuse, known as the snowiest major city in the United States, has recorded 89.3 inches of snow this season, slightly below the average of 93.2 inches by February 16.
Notably, the current figure of 89.3 inches is the highest winter total for Syracuse since 2018. Comparatively, only 31.2 inches had accumulated by this time last year.
