BUFFALO, N.Y. — A complex system brought winter weather alerts and several inches of snow to the higher elevations of Western New York and northern Pennsylvania during Thursday night into Friday, especially for areas at and above 1,500 feet elevation.
Slushy wet snow accumulations were reported, while Buffalo as well as lower elevations and areas near the warmer lake waters just received rain from the system.
Snow totals reported by Friday afternoon: Scio at 5.5 inches of snow, West Almond 4.1 inches, Whitesville 4.0 inches, Warsaw 2.8 inches, Little Valley 2.0 inches, Springville 1.8 inches, Ischua 1.4 inches, Allegany State Park 1.2 inches, Holland 1 inch, Wellsville 1 inch, and Silver Springs 1 inch. Much of the snow melted by end of the day.
In the meantime, Buffalo still hasn't seen a snowflake yet as of the evening of Nov. 22, and it isn't expected to for possibly another week.
This not only at least ties or breaks the old record, but even shatters the record for latest first snowflake ever recorded in Buffalo. The old record is Nov. 22 set in 1946 and 1985.
And remember back in 2015, Buffalo recorded its latest first measurable snowfall (0.1") ever on Dec. 18. Most likely won't reach that though this year.
Looking back at some past years, there were several years when fall wasn't so warm and already had snowfall.
For instance, the earliest first snowflake ever recorded in Buffalo (going back 150 years of record keeping) was on Sept. 20 in 1956. The earliest first measurable snow (of 0.1") was recorded on Oct. 6, 1991. The earliest ever first inch of snow was recorded on Oct. 10 in 1906.
The average first snowflakes are a little later than this. The average first flake in Buffalo usually falls around Oct. 24. The average first measurable snow (of 0.1") is Nov. 8, and the average first inch of snow is on Nov. 18.