City tops record of 149.1 inches set in 2000-01
ERIE, Pa. — It’s official.
Erie has broken the record for snowiest season as of 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The Erie International Airport measured the seasonal snowfall total at 152.1 inches, smashing the previous record set in 2000-01 at 149.1 inches, said Mark Adams, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
“Considering you have two more months of snow, you’ll be way higher than the record,” he said Wednesday. “And the snow is still falling by the sound of it.”
A low-pressure system that moved into the region Wednesday morning is expected to drop 3 to 5 inches of snow, the weather service reported. Three inches of snow had fallen from 7 a.m. through 1 p.m. at the airport, Adams said.
Erie’s normal seasonal snowfall total for Feb. 6 is 70.3 inches. On Feb. 6, 2017, the city’s seasonal snowfall total was 61.9 inches.
“It’s been a relentless winter for you,” said Zach Sefcovic, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
December’s 120.9 inches of snow — the single-highest monthly snowfall amount in Erie history — has fueled this record-setting winter. Who can forget the 34 inches of snow that fell on the region on Christmas Day, and an additional 26.5 inches that fell on top of that on Dec. 26?
“Much of your seasonal total is attributed to that big snow event at Christmas where you got over 5 feet in a two-day to three-day period,″ Sefcovic said. “You take that one big event away, and you would be closer to what Erie should be at this point of winter. It’s been a pretty active winter. It started slow, but once the cold came in December, the snow really started flying.”
As of Tuesday night, Cleveland’s seasonal snowfall total was 32.7 inches, and Buffalo’s winter snowfall total was 72.3 inches, according to National Weather Service data.
Erie retains its hefty lead as the nation’s snowiest city in the most recent rankings in the Golden Snow Globe contest for cities with a population of more than 100,000.
The updated rankings on Tuesday showed Erie comfortably ahead of second-place Syracuse, New York, whose seasonal snow total is 95.8 inches.
The top five include Rochester, New York, in third place with 73.8 inches; Buffalo in fourth place with 72.3 inches; and South Bend, Indiana, in fifth place with 65.5 inches.
Up to 5 inches of snow and slippery road conditions are expected in northwestern Pennsylvania on Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reduced the speed limit on several interstates in northwestern Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning to 45 mph due to weather conditions.
The speed limits will be restored when conditions permit, according to PennDOT.
Erie’s monthly winter snow amounts totaled half an inch in November, 120.9 inches in December, 22.4 inches in January and 5.1 inches in February as of Tuesday night.
As of Wednesday morning, 93.3 percent of Lake Erie was covered in ice, according to the National Weather Service’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
“That will shut down most of any sort of lake-effect snow for you,” Sefcovic said. “Until there is a big enough thaw, you’re probably not going to get too much in terms of lake-effect snow.”
Erie’s normal snowfall accumulation in February is 18.2 inches, and the city’s normal March snowfall is 13.7 inches.
Sefcovic said the National Weather Service’s one-month forecast through early March is calling for below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation in the Erie region.
Ron Leonardi is a reporter for the Erie (Pa.) Times-News.