Rochester, N.Y. – It is not often that Rochester gets a “shut-down” winter storm. But it happened not on just one occasion, but on two all within 72 hours. This is the 26^th anniversary of the blizzard of 1999.

Folks living across Western New York know how to deal with the snow – we have plenty of practice. But this kind of back-to-back winter storm was a test for most residents of Rochester. The first storm started as a weak area of low pressure on March 3, but intensified as it moved north, passing through central and eastern New York state. Then storm number two came just 72 hours later, but arrived with a different track. It was moving west to east across the Ohio Valley heading just south of the Pennsylvania border. The snowfall amounts were very impressive with the first storm measuring 22.3 inches and the second storm coming in with 18.4 inches. If you do the math, that is 40.7 inches for the two storms according to the National Weather Service at the Rochester Airport.

To qualify as a blizzard, there are certain criteria that have to be met. It starts with winds in excess of 35 miles per hour and visibility less than a quarter of a mile. That poor visibility can be due to snow falling from the sky or snow blowing around at ground level because of the high winds. All of these ingredients need to happen for at least three hours.

It is interesting to note that this season the most snowfall for any 24 hours is just 5.4 inches.