Syracuse, N.Y. -- It was a little later than usual, but Central New York has finally recorded its first official snowfall of the 2021-2022 season.
As of 7 a.m. today, the National Weather Service had recorded 0.2 inches at Hancock International Airport, the official site for Syracuse records.
This morning, hilltops south of Syracuse had more snowfall, thanks to the higher elevations that keep the air a few degrees cooler. Social media posts showed 3 inches in Tully and a thick coating in Cazenovia. Farther to the west, 8 inches fell on Cattaraugus County as winds whipped lake effect snow from Lake Erie.
The average date for the first measurable snowfall -- at least one-tenth of an inch -- in Syracuse is Nov. 6, so we’re about 10 days behind schedule. The earliest date snow has ever fallen is Oct. 1, back in 1946. The latest first snow of the season is Jan. 5, which occurred during the winter of 1932-1933.
The snow will fizzle out today, and temperatures will rise into the 50s Wednesday and Thursday. A cold front sweeps through Thursday, though, pushing low temperatures into the 20s by early Friday morning and bringing another round of light lake effect snow like we saw today, said Bryan Greenblatt, a meteorologist with the weather service office in Binghamton, which forecasts for Central New York.
There’s another chance for snow Sunday into Monday, he said.
“There’s quite a bit of uncertain uncertainty towards the second half of weekend and the beginning of next week,” Greenblatt said. “There could be another system around, but it’s still pretty far out to pinpoint any details yet.”
Snow has been delayed this year by warmer than normal temperatures. Last month was the warmest October since records began in Syracuse in 1902. The first half of November was nearly 2 degrees warmer than normal. Friday’s record-breaking rain -- 1.4 inches, the most ever recorded for Syracuse on a Nov. 12 -- could have been a foot or more of snow if temperatures had been cold enough.
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