Synoptic hybrid events Those are the best lol
A strong cold front crossed the Lower Great Lakes from west to east
during the day of the 19th. The airmass was only marginally cold by
late in the day on the 19th, with lake effect rain mixed with wet
snow developing off Lake Erie near Buffalo, changing to all snow
across the higher terrain south of the city during the evening. The
heavier snow did not develop until a secondary cold front crossed
the area on the morning of the 20th, bringing a strong push of
arctic air into the region. A strong area of low pressure developed
over New England on the 20th and moved very slowly north into
southern Quebec on the 21st. Abundant moisture and lift associated
with the strong low pressure system produced widespread light to
moderate snow across much of the region from the Genesee Valley into
Central and Northern New York.
The close proximity of the strong low and the associated deep
moisture and lift made this a hybrid lake effect snow event. Lake
enhanced snow covered a much larger area than in our typical lake
effect snow events that feature very narrow bands of heavy snow.
The most persistent lake enhanced snow was found east and southeast
of Lake Ontario, with storm totals of over one foot in a large area
from Rochester eastward to the Tug Hill region and Watertown.
Upstream connections to lake effect snow off Georgian Bay also
enhanced snowfall across parts of Central NY. Very persistent
upslope flow into the higher terrain of the Tug Hill Plateau played
a critical role in producing the highest totals from this event,
with a few locations seeing 3 to 4+ feet of snow over a 3 day
period. This event also produced unusually heavy amounts of lake
effect snow outside of our area across the Finger Lakes and Southern
Tier. The Binghamton airport and several other locations in the
Finger Lakes and Syracuse area received over 2 feet of snow over the
3 day period.