LOOK BACK: From Record Snowfall in 2020 to Record Highs in 2021
What a difference a year can make. From record-breaking temperatures this year to record snowfall last year.
It felt more like spring in Central New York with temperatures ten degrees warmer than the record high of 53 in Utica, set in 1982. It was even warmer in Syracuse on Thursday, December 16. The average is about 34 degrees for this time of year.
A massive change from December 16, 2020, when Winter Storm Gail dumped record snow in Central New York. Binghamton had the honor of seeing the most with a whopping 41 inches, the biggest 2-day storm in history. The one-day total was 26.4 inches, the second greatest snowfall for any day. In Utica, there were only 10.5 inches, a dusting compared to the Southern Tier.
Ben Barnum who lives in Binghamton, took a time-lapse video of his back porch as snow fell, 5 inches per hour at times.
Gail was blamed for the deaths of at least 5 people according to the National Weather Service. A driver was killed in Canastota, New York when a tractor-trailer rolled over on the New York State Thruway.
A New York State Trooper saved a man who had been trapped in his car for hours. Zone Sergeant Jason Cawley couldn't find the driver on State Route 17C in the town of Owego at first.
Cawley waded through the snow and while digging, he hit the windshield of a car. Inside was the driver who had been making 911 calls, 58-year-old Kevin Kresen.
Kresen said he had been plowed in by a truck. The car was covered with close to four feet of snow and Kresen had been stranded for more than 10 hours, with no heat.
Take a look back at the stunning photos from the aftermath of Winter Storm Gail. I don't know about you, but I much prefer sunshine and 60-degree temperatures in December to digging out from under several feet of snow.