From 22 inches in Union City to 63 inches in Girard, here’s how much snow fell around Erie

If it feels like Erie County has been besieged by winter for more than a week straight, looking out the window might be enough to back up your feelings.

But the snow that has piled up since late Thanksgiving was caused by two separate lake effect events, Nov. 28 through Tuesday and Thursday into Saturday morning. The estimated snowfall totals from the National Weather Service in Cleveland confirm just how severe the impact of the first snowfall will be on the county and beyond.

More: What’s the weather like in Erie County and the surrounding areas? Guided tour via webcam

Why does it snow so much in Erie County?

Backstory from the weather service: Starting on Thanksgiving, open Lake Erie reached warmer than normal water temperatures. These conditions resulted in a major lake effect zone with snowfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour, particularly in Erie and Crawford counties and Lake and Ashtabula counties in Ohio.

About 12 hours later, about a foot of snow was on the ground in parts of Ashtabula County. Within 24 hours, reports from Erie County said 2.5 feet of rain fell in some areas. On November 30, more than 3 feet of snow was reported in peak snowfall areas, before the winds briefly shifted and the storm calmed down.

However, lake effect snow returned Sunday and continued into Tuesday, with 2 to 5 feet of snow in the snow belt.

Wednesday’s break gave way to a second event, with these lake effect conditions dropping more snow around the region Thursday into Saturday morning, when the Cleveland Weather Service’s latest lake effect warning was allowed to expire.

How much snow fell around Erie County from November 28 to December 12? 3?

The weather service conducts official observations at Erie International Airport, but also has trained snow spotters, cooperative observers and community cooperative rain, hail and snow members reporting weather elsewhere in the region. Their observations were unofficial by weather service standards, but unofficial or not, they passed the eye test right outside our door. Keep in mind these inches are only as of the evening of December 3 or the morning of December 4; totals from December 5-7 are not included.

Unofficial snowfall totals for Erie County after December 3

• Southeast Harborcreek Township, 61 inches

• Harborcreek east-southeast, 59.7 inches

• Northwest Harborcreek, 55.2 inches

• South Wesleyville, 55 inches.

• West Colt Station, 54.7 inches

• West-northwest-northeast, 53 inches

• East-southeast of Erie, 50 inches

• Erie International Airport, 49.4 inches

• Northwest Harborcreek, 48.5 inches

• Northwest Edinborough, 45.5 inches

• West-southwest of Erie, 43.8 inches

• West-northwest-northeast, 43.3 inches

• Southwest Wesleyville, 42.2 inches

• East Edinborough, 38.9 inches

• North-northwest Cory, 24.2 inches

• West Northwest Union City, 22.3 inches

More: Season early at Peek’n Peak, Mount Pleasant ski areas due to snowstorm

Unofficial snowfall totals for Crawford County after December 3

• Northwest Venango, 38 inches

• West-northwest of Springboro, 34.4 inches

• Southwest Canada Lake, 14.1 inches

• North Meadville, 9.7 inches

• Southeast Meadville, 7.7 inches

• Northeast Cochranton, 5.4 inches

Unofficial snowfall totals for Ashtabula County, Ohio after December 3

• Saybrook north-northeast, 63.2 inches

• North-northeast of Geneva, 50.5 inches

• South Ashtabula, 40 inches

• Southeast Madison, 37.8 inches

• South Kingsville, 34 inches.

• Trumbull east-northeast, 25 inches.

• Andover north-northeast, 9 inches.

Get the latest weather in the Erie area

Return to GoErie.com for updates. Visit goerie.com/weather for the latest AccuWeather forecast details and radar imagery for your zip code. Download the GoErie app for iOS or Android for mobile-friendly forecasts. Tour the Erie area via webcam.

This article originally appeared in the Erie Times News: How much snow fell around Eriepa during the Thanksgiving weekend storm?