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Bald Eagle Snows
Fri Feb 04, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
Chestnut and Hickory were awesome events, but few Buffalo, New York residents
would forget the Bald Eagle of 2001. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather
Notebook.
In the 1995-96 winter season the Buffalo National Weather Service office began
naming major lake-effect snow storms for archival purposes. As with hurricanes, the
names progressed alphabetically, but for snowstorms the names change annually
under a theme. Heavenly bodies, trees, and birds. Storms are also given a flake
index based on snowfall and social impact. One flake for minor events and five for
epic, mega-storms.
Bald Eagle began Christmas Eve 2001 and lasted a record seven days. An epic even
among five flakers, ranking in the top five snowstorms ever to hit Buffalo.
Cold air blasted across warm Lake Erie waters on Christmas Eve producing thundery,
intense snow bands across the Buffalo area. Snow accumulated up to four inches per
hour. Over two days, 12 to 25 inches buried metropolitan Buffalo.
As winds slowly shifted, snow streamers wriggled over the region, dropping several
inches per hour south of town. By late Wednesday the 26th, they returned to Buffalo
proper dumping another eight inches of snow in six hours.
Thursday, the Buffalo airport marked nearly 18 inches of fresh snow and Friday added
15 more. By the time Bald Eagle bade Buffalo farewell 81.6 inches had piled on. Truly
a historic storm worthy of five flakes and its own name.
The Weather Notebook comes to you from the Mount Washington Observatory with
support from Subaru and the National Science Foundation.
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