At a Glance

It snowed for 66 consecutive hours in Syracuse, New York, late last week.Lake-effect snow developed southeast of Lake Ontario and persisted across the area for nearly three days.A total of 19.3 inches of snow piled up during the duration of this 66-hour snow event.

If you dread the thought of long-duration snow events because that slippery commutehome from work was more than enough to test your patience, imagine being in Syracuse, New York, where snow fell for 66 consecutive hours late last week.

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The snow started at Syracuse Hancock International Airport just before 6 a.m. EST Thursday morning and was reported every hour until just before midnight Saturday night.

Had the snow continued for just six more hours, therewould have been three straight days of continuous snowfall in the central New York city, home to more than 143,000 residents.

The snow wasn't always heavy during those long 66 hours. In fact, it was just flurries at times, but even that was enough to trigger an observation of light snow on the .

Finally, at 11:54 p.m. EST Saturday night, the weather observation simply read "overcast" at the airport.

In the nearly-three-day stretch of snowfall, 19.3 inches piled up in Syracuse. January typically features 35.6 inches of snow, based on 1981-2010 data, which makes it the average snowiest month of the year in the city.

The first week of January was the second-coldest such period on record in Syracuse, or the coldest since Jan. 1-7, 1904, according to . A total of 23.4 inches of snow fell during January's first week, making it the , syracuse.com reported.

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The persistent cold and snow in early January has led to some very tall snow piles in the Syracuse area despite the .

off Lake Ontario was the culprit for last week's 66-hour snow event. Bitterly cold, Arctic air was blowing over the relatively warmer waters of Lake Ontario, which caused snow showers and some heavier squalls to develop downwind of the lake.

In this case, the winds were strong and mainly out of the northwest, which allowed the snow to set up in the Syracuse area, southeast of the lake.

Through Monday, Syracuse had picked up 63.5 inches of snow this winter. An average winter would have only seen 51 inches through Jan. 8. The only city (population of 100,000or more) with more snow than Syracuse this winter is Erie, Pennsylvania, with 133 inches as ofMonday.

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Central New York will likely see more snow – along with sleet and freezing rain – from later this week.

Brian Donegan is a digital meteorologist at weather.com. Follow him on,and .