"NO" vember Snow!

Written by: Brian Neudorff

Over the holiday weekend the one topic that people kept asking and talking to me about was the lack of snow this month. If you remember my post last week, "Interesting November Snowfall Stats" This is the latest we've gone into a fall/winter season in the last 46 years (1963) with out recording our first measurable snowfall. Based on the Rochester Preliminary Monthly Climate Data from the National Weather Service in Buffalo they are recording a trace of snow for November 5th but based on what I remember and our record here in the weather office, that trace was more for ice pellets than actual snow.

Now that we are at the end of the month, it doesn't look like any snow will fall as we close out the last day of the month. That would mean November 2009 would either tie November 1952 and 1935 with no snow or possibly 1948 that measured a trace. Either way we've experienced something very rare across western New York.

The last time there was measurable snow in Rochester was 236 days ago back on April 7th. This puts us at our 3rd longest streak without snow. The all time record longest streak is 260 days back in 1963. Looking at the forecast it is possible that we could end that streak sometime this week. It could occur as early as Tuesday morning the first day of December with a few lake effect/ lake enhanced snow showers off of Lake Erie Tuesday morning. There is even a better chance for snow for Thursday and Friday when a developing storm system moves out of the south and southeast and up the east coast. If this happens it could be our first significant snow and possible lake effect snow event of the season. So stay tuned.