Buffalo monthly snowfall, 2010-2023, courtesy of the National Weather Service. Note that the snowfall for 2022-2023 is the greatest in 20 years with the greatest contribution to the total falling in December.
By Christmas Eve 2022, Buffalo, N.Y., had received more than 6 feet of snow from a once-in-a-lifetime storm, with some places receiving as much as 15 feet by the end of the 31-hour event.
The National Weather Service had predicted winds gusting as high as 65 miles per hour and wind chills as cold as 15 to 25 below zero. Many people were trapped in their homes, some without electricity, and most hunkered down until the roads could be cleared and emergency crews could more easily move around.
During his winter holiday break, Professor Adam Burnett was watching nearly 1,000 miles away in Nashville, Tenn. One of Professor Burnett’s areas of expertise is the lake effect, a weather phenomenon characterized by cold air moving across large and relatively warm bodies of water, transferring moisture into the atmosphere and resulting in increased snowfall.