A strong cold front crossed the eastern Great Lakes and this set the stage for a significant lake effect snow event east of both lakes.
Lake effect snow developed east of Lake Erie on the evening of the 10th.  The lake effect snow was initially light, with multiple bands developing across the western Southern Tier on westerly flow.  Overnight the lake effect snow increased and consolidated into one, intense single band of snow across northern Chautauqua County. The band of heavy lake effect snow remained near Dunkirk for several hours during the morning. From late morning through the afternoon the band of lake effect snow reached its peak intensity with snowfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour.  The band also moved a little farther north into Southern Erie County during this time, where the greatest accumulations of the event occurred off Lake Erie near Angola.  The combination of heavy snowfall rates and several accidents prompted the closing of the New York State Thruway for a brief interval between Hamburg and Ripley. During the evening of the 11th, the snow swept north across the Niagara Frontier. Specific storm totals reported included:  25 inches at Angola, 19 inches in Forestville; 14 inches at Colden; 13 inches at Dunkirk, and 9 inches in Hamburg.
East of Lake Ontario lake effect snow developed overnight on the 10th as cold air rapidly moved in behind the strong cold front.  The lake effect snow was initially light across the northern portion of the Tug Hill Plateau to areas just south and east of Watertown, but then organized into a single band of heavier snow by the morning of the 11th and moved slightly south to center on the northern and central Tug Hill Plateau. The band of heavy snow focused on the northern portion of the Tug Hill Plateau through the rest of the day and evening with snowfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour.  Upslope flow into the Tug Hill Plateau played an important role in enhancing snowfall amounts with this storm. The steady state position of the heavy snow band produced a very sharp gradient in snowfall amounts across the Tug Hill Plateau, with up to 3 feet on the northern Tug Hill from Lorraine to Montague while areas farther south such as Highmarket received less than a half a foot of accumulation. During overnight hours of the 11th-12th, the snow swept north across the region, lifting north of Watertown by morning. Specific storm totals reported included: 38 inches in Lorraine, 35 inches at Montague; 21 inches at Lowville and Brantingham; 16 inches at Redfield; 15 inches at Beaver Falls and 8 inches at Watertown.

Lake-Effect Snow in CATTARAUGUS, NEW YORK
From 10-JAN-16 19:00:00 to 11-JAN-16 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Lake-Effect Snow in SOUTHERN ERIE, NEW YORK
From 10-JAN-16 19:00:00 to 11-JAN-16 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 20.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Lake-Effect Snow in OSWEGO, NEW YORK
From 10-JAN-16 22:00:00 to 11-JAN-16 23:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 30.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Lake-Effect Snow in JEFFERSON, NEW YORK
From 10-JAN-16 22:00:00 to 12-JAN-16 03:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Lake-Effect Snow in LEWIS, NEW YORK
From 10-JAN-16 22:00:00 to 12-JAN-16 03:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 30.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Lake-Effect Snow in CHAUTAUQUA, NEW YORK
From 10-JAN-16 19:00:00 to 11-JAN-16 18:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter