As Barney Miller and his detectives deal with a sugar addict and a elderly bounty-hunter, Det. Yemana suddenly doubles over with an appendicitis attack.
New York City is brought to a standstill by a blizzard and Capt. Miller and his men are plagued by a dead body, an irate lawyer and a slightly deranged citizen who claims that a new ice age has begun.
Barney's men apprehend a drunk who tried to rob a store without a weapon, and an inventive crook who has been getting all his ideas from TV police shows.