Winter Storm Gail Was a Record Snowstorm for Two Northeast Towns

 Jonathan Erdman

Published: December 17, 2020

Winter Storm Gail didn't simply clobber the Northeast with widespread, heavy snow – it was a record-breaking snowstorm in at least two cities in New York and Pennsylvania.

Gail dumped 40 inches of snow at the Greater Binghamton Airport northwest of Binghamton, New York, the city's heaviest snowstorm on record, topping the previous record of 35.3 inches set during Winter Storm Stella on March 14-15, 2017.

Incredibly, their 39-inch snow depth reported after the storm topped their record from the infamous Blizzard of '93 (March 15).

A nearly stationary band of heavy snow set up overnight Wednesday night from northern Pennsylvania into central New York, with snowfall rates reaching up to 5 inches per hour in Binghamton, according to the National Weather Service.

As you can imagine, that left local residents in awe.

Jennifer Woltjen tweeted photos of her back patio early Thursday morning, measuring a 46-inch-tall snow drift next to her door.

Others had a challenge digging out vehicles, as was the challenge faced by NWS-Binghamton meteorologist Adam Gill.

After the storm ended, the weight of the snow collapsed the air-supported dome of the Greater Binghamton Sports Complex.

About 65 miles south of Syracuse near the Pennsylvania border, Binghamton is one of the snowier cities in the Northeast, averaging 81.8 inches of snow each winter season.

Winter Storm Gail produced roughly half that seasonal average in less than 24 hours.

Setting a new snowstorm record has been a thing lately in Binghamton. In November 2016, Winter Storm Argos dumped 27.6 inches of snow over four days in Binghamton. That was followed four months later by the aforementioned record-breaking Winter Storm Stella in March 2017.

So Gail became the third record-breaking snowstorm in Binghamton in the last four years; The city's snowfall records date to 1951.

Nothing Little League About This

Binghamton wasn't the only city that smashed its all-time record during Winter Storm Gail.

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, also set its all-time snowstorm record that had stood for almost 57 years, picking up over 2 feet of snow.

As you can see in the tweet above, not only had this record stood since the early stage of President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, their period of record dates to 1895.

Located in north-central Pennsylvania about 70 miles north of the state capital, Harrisburg, this area is known more for hosting the Little League World Series than for prolific snowstorms like this.

Williamsport averages just 35.4 inches of snow each season. Winter Storm Gail provided about 70% of this seasonal average in less than 24 hours.

In nearby State College, Gail was the heaviest snowstorm in almost 18 years and second-heaviest December snowstorm, according to Steve Seman of Penn State University.

State Snow Records?

Some snow totals from Winter Storm Gail are also in the ballpark of all-time state records.

Reports of 43.3 inches of snow near the town of Alba, Pennsylvania and 44 inches south of Ludlow, Vermont, were received by the National Weather Service.

According to NOAA, these totals are in the neighborhood of the all-time state 24-hour snowfall records in Pennsylvania (38 inches in Morgantown on Mar. 20, 1958) and Vermont (42 inches at Jay Peak on Feb. 5, 1995).

Since it appears most of that snow fell in 24 hours or less, Gail may have been a state record 24-hour snow in those states.

For those records to be accepted, they would have to be examined by a State Climate Extremes Committee, an ad hoc committee of meteorologists and climatologists.

Gail dumped over 40 inches of snow in several locations in New Hampshire and New York, but fell short of 24-hour snow records in those states. Croydon, New Hampshire, and Newark Valley, New York, tallied 44 inches.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.