Historic Snowfall in New York - 80" in Orchard Park!

news image
Special Stories
21 Nov 2022 2:00 PM

GREAT LAKES - Heavy snow is winding down in upstate New York after what has been a record-breaking lake effect event!

How Much Snow?

Think of the tallest person you know. That's about how much snow accumulated in the snow belt of New York! As of Sunday, Orchard Park was up to 80" inches of snow, that's about 6 feet 8 inches tall! It won't just be the amount of snow, but the weight of it and the subsequent strain it will put on people's homes and roofs. Our field correspondent Jonathan Petramala has been trudging through the snow in Buffalo, New York which received 36.7" of storm-total snowfall. On Saturday, Buffalo reached another record snowfall event of 17.2 inches! For perspective, the snowiest November Buffalo ever had on record was in 2000, with the snowiest day being 11/20/2000 when just shy of 25" fell. However, in 2014 from Nov 17 to 19th, 65" fell in S. Cheektowaga, just outside city limits. Official historical snow reporting stations are at the Buffalo airport and lake effect bands are extremely narrow, leading to the difference in snow totals for the history books!

Some of the reports off of Lake Ontario may climb slightly with lake effect bands still sticking around overnight into Monday. Our top reports so far off of Lake Ontario have been up to 72" in Natural Bridge, NY. For more on this, join WeatherNation for our Eastern Regional Forecasts at :10 past the hour and for your top Weather Headlines.

All Weather News
More
Several Fires Break Out in SoCal Amid Santa Ana Wind Event

Several Fires Break Out in SoCal Amid Santa Ana Wind Event

Santa Ana winds helped several fires grow qui

18 Oct 2026 10:25 AM
Frost & Freeze Alerts Issued Behind Strong Cold Front

Frost & Freeze Alerts Issued Behind Strong Cold Front

After record heat impacted much of the Centra

18 Oct 2026 10:20 AM
Tropics: Champi Bears Down on Guam, Pacific Staying Active

Tropics: Champi Bears Down on Guam, Pacific Staying Active

Isaias ended the late-season streak of no hur

18 Oct 2026 10:15 AM
Pattern Change for the West Next Week

Pattern Change for the West Next Week

The fire situation in California is slowly im

18 Oct 2026 10:05 AM
Severe Risk Diminishing Saturday Morning for the Northeast

Severe Risk Diminishing Saturday Morning for the Northeast

Severe Storm PotentialSevere risk is decreasi

16 Oct 2026 10:20 AM
Flooding & Severe Storms Persist in the Southern Plains

Flooding & Severe Storms Persist in the Southern Plains

Extreme rainfall has been hitting areas of Te

16 Oct 2026 2:00 AM
Cooler Air & Lingering Snow for The Rockies

Cooler Air & Lingering Snow for The Rockies

A digging trough is bringing cooler temperatu

15 Oct 2026 10:00 AM