Snow storms, old and new

You may have seen it on the national news. Or you may have witnessed it first-hand—Bald Eagle, "an epic storm, multiple day, heavy Buffalo-metro impact, little wind, seasonable temperatures," with maximum snowfalls recorded from Lake Erie at Buffalo of 81.6" and from Lake Ontario at Montague of 127". (This season's lake-effect storms are named after birds. The staff at the National Weather Service office at Buffalo has the honor of selecting the actual names.) Go to the NWS site at: http://tgsv5.nws.noaa.gov/er/buf/lakeffect/lake0102/b/stormb.html for a summary of the storm's details, radar and satellite images, and photographs of the events. Follow the entire 2001-02 lake-effect season at the Buffalo NWS office site at http://205.156.54.206/er/buf/lakeffect/01-02.html.

It may be hard to believe, but 2002 marks the 25th anniversary of the Blizzard of '77. The 1976-77 winter had the greatest snowfall for one season with 199.4", burying the old record of 126.4" in 1909-10. It was also a year of brutally cold temperatures, with the period of Dec. 26, 1976, through February 1977 marked by 45 consecutive days of below-freezing temperatures.

The Blizzard of '77 began on Jan. 28. Wind gusts of up to 69 mph were recorded in Buffalo (75 mph in Niagara Falls). Rapidly changing temperatures were reported throughout the 28th, beginning when the temperature rose from five degrees at midnight to 26 degrees by 11 a.m. As wind gusts rose from 29 to 49 mph and visibility became zero, the temperature plummeted from 26 degrees to zero in just over four hours, and wind-chill factors reached bone-chilling ranges of 50 to 60 degrees below zero. Interestingly, snow accumulations in the Buffalo area were only around 12 inches (much thought to have come from existing snow lying on the frozen surface of Lake Erie), though snow drifts from the wind buried many houses. By storm's end, 29 people had been killed and 20 animals at the Buffalo Zoo died. Details on the storm, meteorological animations (see how far we have progressed in 25 years), photographs, stories and more are found at the 25th anniversary Web site at http://205.156.54.206/er/buf/blizzard/blizindex.html.

To keep abreast of the latest news, trends and happenings about climate and meteorology, visit the Science and Engineering Library Climate and Weather Page at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/sources/climateweather.html. SEL also maintains a Web site devoted to "Global Climate Change: U.S. Research and Policy" at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/bio/ecochange.html. Gary Ciszewski of the Mildred Blake Library in the Ellicott Complex has compiled an outstanding "Meteorology Guide: Resources for Meteorological Students" at http://members.aol.com/gnsharkfan/meteor.html.

—Fred Stoss, University Libraries