BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tuesday afternoon Storm Team 2 Meteorologist Elyse Smith answered some of Western New York's most-asked viewer questions thus far this winter during the 2 on Your Side Town Hall.
First question: It seems like the snow never stopped in January. Was it one of the snowiest?
Answer: Your observations are valid! There were only two days this past January with no snow, where at least a trace amount of snow was recorded. But then we had two record-breaking daily snowfalls on January 6 and 17 with over 17 inches apiece, helping propel January of 2022 to the 7th snowiest January on record with 52.1 inches of snow falling at the National Weather Service Office at the Buffalo Airport.
Second question: This month was so cold. The earth is warming, but can climate change also be behind extreme cold?
Answer: It’s true that this past January was definitely below average temperature-wise with an average monthly temperature of around 22 degrees. That’s about three degrees below the climatological average for the month. This brings me to the second part of this question, being that climate change is also about extremes. While the global temperature of the Earth is and has been slowly rising for decades, that can be showcased in a variety of ways, including extremes. But remember, a weak La Nina is also still present in the Equatorial Pacific, which is more of a seasonal driver for winter than global climate change.
Third question: When does the lake normally freeze over to shut off the lake effect? Are we close to that?
Answer: January's arctic blasts really helped encourage ice development over the lake. In fact, at the beginning of January, there was zero ice formation on Lake Erie. Now it’s over 85 percent covered, which is actually more than the peak ice coverage from last year and the historical average for the season. And ice coverage on Lake Erie usually doesn’t peak until mid-February, so we are way ahead of the game. The last time Lake Erie completely froze over from end to end was in 1996. It came close in 2015 with peak ice coverage of 98.1 percent.
If you have a weather or news-related question you'd like to have answered, submit those to the Two On Your Side Tip line at 716-849-2220.