Lake Erie froze over by December 14; this was a record. An ice-covered Lake Erie usually puts an end to lake effect snowstorms, because the wind cannot pick up moisture from the lake's surface, convert the moisture to snow and then dump it when the winds reach shore.
The wintry weather continued in January, with the monthly average temperature being 13.8 ?F (−10.1 ?C), the coldest on record (records began in 1870 in Buffalo). January's average temperature was 10 ?F (6 ?C) below normal. It never rose to freezing in Buffalo that month, the first January that had occurred.
Prior to January 28, the day the blizzard started, it had snowed almost every day since just after Christmas. By January 27, Buffalo's snow depth was 59.1 in (150 cm). There was continuous snow cover from November 29 until the day of the blizzard, and 151.3 in (384 cm) of snow had fallen that winter prior to the blizzard – 59.1 in (150 cm) in January alone – well above normal even for a city that averages about 100 in (250 cm) of snowfall per year. This resulted in a snow depth of 33 in (84 cm) on the day the blizzard started.