As a result of anomalously cold air that made its way south from the Canadian Arctic, blizzard conditions were experienced across a large portion of the Niagara Frontier, including the Buffalo Metropolitan area, while over 5 feet of snow fell on the Tug Hill Plateau.  A deepening surface low passed just to the west of Buffalo early in the morning and swept a strong cold front across Western and North Central New York.  As cold air deepened over the Lower Great Lakes during the course of the day, multiple bands of lake effect snow developed over the east end of Lake Erie and across much of Western New York.  While snowfall rates with the disorganized lake snows were generally less than one inch per hour through much of the afternoon, winds averaging 25 to 40 mph produced near white out conditions. The multiple bands of snow off Lake Erie then consolidated into one plume of moderate to heavy lake snow during the evening.  This band concentrated its 1 to 2 inch snowfall rates on sites just south of Buffalo, on a line stretching from Hamburg and Orchard Park, to Elma, Cowlesville and Attica.  The New York State Thruway from Henrietta to the Pennsylvania state line was closed for the night and the next day (7th).  While the accumulating snow was certainly an issue, the larger problem was the blowing and drifting snow with hours of near zero visibility from winds that consistently gusted to 40 mph.  During the course of Tuesday night and Wednesday (the 8th), the deep long wave trough over Eastern Canada and the lower Great Lakes pushed to the east, while at the surface, strong high pressure drifted across the southern states.  The lake snows started to weaken off Lake Erie late Tuesday night, as increased shear and a lowering of the cap encouraged the lake effect to become multi-banded with snowfall rates generally under an inch per hour. Surface wind speeds also subsided, so the prolonged blizzard conditions finally came to an end. Storm totals of snow off Lake Erie included: 22 inches at Orchard Park; 21 inches at Depew; 20 inches at Lancaster; 19 inches at Elma; 18 inches at Buffalo Airport; 17 inches at West Seneca; 14 inches at Hamburg; 13 inches at Milgrove; 12 inches at Kenmore, Corfu, Pembroke, Bennington, and Fredonia; and 11 inches at Boston.
Off Lake Ontario, the lake snows off Lake Ontario took several more hours to evolve.  Multiple bands of snow started to develop during the midday hours on the 6th and continued through the evening hours before a single band of heavy snow began to flourish.  This band consolidated north of Watertown, in the Thousand Islands Region and then steadily marched south to the Tug Hill Plateau during the overnight.  By daybreak on Tuesday, the 7th, the lake band was lifting back north towards Watertown.  This main band oscillated back and forth between Watertown and the north slopes of the Tug throughout the day, while a weaker secondary band was positioned some 25 miles to the south.  Snowfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour were noted with the primary band.  Frequent wind gusts over 30 mph produced significant blowing and drifting with white out conditions at times. The intense 1 to 3 inch snowfall rates persisted through the night and into Wednesday morning. As the upper level flow became more zonal and the surface high build across the Mid Atlantic States Wednesday night and Thursday (the 9th), the lakes snows tapered off to flurries. Storm totals of snow off Lake Ontario included:  60 inches at Rodman; 54 inches at Copenhagen; 48 inches at Adams and Watertown; 28 inches at Croghan; 12 inches at Constableville; and 10 inches at Bennetts Bridge.
This event will not only be remembered for the prolonged period of blizzard conditions across parts of the Niagara Frontier and the four to five feet of snow east of Lake Ontario, but for the agonizing stretch of brutal wind chill values of 10 to 30 below zero.  This certainly made this one of the more dangerous lake effect events in recent memory.

Lake-Effect Snow in NORTHERN ERIE, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Amateur Radio

Lake-Effect Snow in GENESEE, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Amateur Radio

Lake-Effect Snow in WYOMING, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Lake-Effect Snow in CHAUTAUQUA, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 07-JAN-14 22:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Amateur Radio

Lake-Effect Snow in SOUTHERN ERIE, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Amateur Radio

Lake-Effect Snow in SOUTHERN ERIE, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 09:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Lake-Effect Snow in JEFFERSON, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

Lake-Effect Snow in LEWIS, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 13:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Blizzard in NORTHERN ERIE, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 16:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in GENESEE, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 16:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in WYOMING, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 16:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Blizzard in SOUTHERN ERIE, NEW YORK
From 06-JAN-14 16:00:00 to 08-JAN-14 03:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer