Blizzard of 1977 - Northern New York

Northern New York

Portions of northern New York state, particularly Jefferson and Lewis counties, were also hard hit. At 3:10 pm, on Friday, January 28, Watertown reported zero visibility and wind gusting to 28 mph (45 km/h) as the cold front that had moved through southern Ontario and Western New York advanced through northern New York. The Watertown region received 8 to 12 in (20 to 30 cm) of snow with the cold front, but unfrozen Lake Ontario (in contrast to frozen Lake Erie), along with atmospheric conditions favorable for lake effect snow, allowed snow bands to form that resulted in storm totals of 66 in (168 cm) in Watertown, 72.5 in (184.2 cm) in Mansville, 93 in (236 cm) Fort Drum, and more than 100 in (254 cm) in areas southeast of Watertown. The snow, along with the winds, resulted in drifts of 15 to 30 ft (5 to 9 m), and stranded of more than 1,000 motorists.

After beginning with the cold-front passage at 3:10 pm on January 28 at Watertown, the blizzard's winds peaked at 49 mph (79 km/h) at 7:00 pm. That night, about 150 people were stranded at the Chesebrough-Pond factory in Watertown. Three radio announcers at radio station 1410 AM WOTT in Watertown were stranded without food, and each of them worked 8-hour shifts to keep the station on 24 hours per day, playing music and taking hundreds of calls from North Country residents in need of services, such as fuel, food or reassurance. Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies brought the announcers provisions via snowmobile on the fifth day of their entrapment. Oddly enough, though the snow was piled up over the roof of the studios on Gifford Road, the morning announcer's VW Bug parked next to the building was totally clear of snow, thanks to prevailing winds. It took him over 5 hours to travel the 8 mi (13 km) to his home in Brownville, as only one lane was clear on several of the roads he traveled.

During the storm, a Radio Emergency Associated Communication Teams (REACT) CB team set up at the plant to coordinate help for those needing things such as medical assistance, The Red Cross also set up at the factory, and snowmobiles and four-wheel drive vehicles were dispatched. After a lull at Watertown, the storm restarted at 2:30 am on January 29, and lasted until 10:00 pm. This portion of the storm included gusts to 50 mph (80 km/h) and heavy snow. The storm then abated at Watertown, but at 2:00 pm on Sunday, visibility returned to zero. By midnight Sunday, 34 in (86 cm) of new snow had fallen since Friday, January 28, at 7:00 am. The blizzard continued throughout Monday, January 31, with an additional 17 in (43 cm) of new snow before the snow stopped around 8:00 am on February 1.

Due to the lower wind speeds than those that occurred in western New York, the snow in northern New York was not as hard packed according to Ben Kolker of the NWS office in Buffalo. Northern New York did have significant snowfall, though, along with significant drifting. On February 1, Jefferson and Lewis counties were among the counties added to the initial federal emergency declaration, and on February 5, were among the counties declared major disaster areas. The New York District of the USACE assisted with snow clearing by having contractors clear a total of 450 mi (720 km) of roadway in Jefferson and Lewis counties. U.S. Marines were at Camp Drum (near Watertown) for cold-weather training, and some of them assisted in Jefferson and Lewis counties with fourteen 25-ton Amtrack vehicles, The National Guard assisted with track vehicles; U.S. Army troops from Camp Drum also helped with disaster relief.

Since food and supplies were in short supply in the area by the end of the storm, on February 1, the travel ban was lifted from 7:00 am until noon so 1,900 stranded travelers could leave the area. Agricultural interests were adversely affected by the storm, with the dairy industry hardest hit due to farmers’ inability to get milk to market. In Jefferson County alone, about 85% of dairy farmers were forced to dump milk because tank trucks could not reach farms. This contributed to $8 million in agricultural losses. Other problems included barns collapsing from the snow (seven in Jefferson County), feed and grain shortages, disposal of manure, and farmers being unable to reach barns to feed cattle. Five deaths were reported in northern New York as a result of the storm, all due to heart attacks (four occurring while shoveling snow and another in his car).

On February 9, about a week after the storm ended, the average snow depth in the Black River basin (about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2)) which include Jefferson, Lewis and other counties) was 40.4 in (102.6 cm), having a liquid equivalent of 8.06 in (205 mm) that raised flooding concerns. Sears Pond, about 20 mi (32 km) southeast of Watertown, recorded a snow depth of 77.3 inches (196 cm) with a liquid equivalent of 19.23 in (488.4 mm).