NEW YORK – Part of upstate New York finally gets a break from the bad weather after a multi-day storm dumped potentially record amounts of snow on cities east of Lakes Erie and Lake Ontario.
Many businesses in the hardest-hit areas remained closed on Sunday, but roads have reopened and travel bans have been lifted in many areas. Bands of lake-effect snow are expected by Monday morning that could reach up to 2 feet in some parts of the state.
“This has been a historic storm. Definitely for the records,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a briefing Sunday.
Snow began falling Thursday in cities south of Buffalo. On Saturday, the National Weather Service recorded 80 inches in Orchard Park, home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, and 72 inches in Natural Bridge, a village near Watertown on the east end of Lake Ontario.
Hochul is calling for a federal disaster declaration for the affected areas, which could bring some relief. The Democrat said crews were checking for residents of mobile homes in parks in areas that had enough snow for roofs to collapse.
Due to heavy snow, a Sunday football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns has been moved to Detroit.
New York is no stranger to lake-effect snow, which is caused by cold air picking up moisture from warmer water and then releasing it in swathes of windblown snow on land.
This month’s storm is at least the worst in the state since November 2014, when communities south of Buffalo were hit by 2 feet of snow over the course of three days, roofs collapsed and motorists were trapped in a section of the road. New York State Thruway.
Similar multi-day storms brought more snow to New York than in the past, but the ferocity of Friday’s storm appeared to threaten the state record for most snow in a 24-hour period: 50 inches fell on Camden, New York, February 1, 1966.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Alumbaugh, who lives in Buffalo, said it was too early to tell whether any of this year’s snowfall surpassed that record.
DEAD BY THE STORM
As a result of the massive and historic storm, two people died, according to Erie County Executive Marl Poloncarz. The deaths of Erie County residents were “associated with stress-related cardiac events during shoveling/snow removal,” Poloncarz said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a tweet that those in Erie County should “use extreme caution when plowing snow and follow the instructions of local officials.”
The emergency affects several counties in New York, with various restrictions.
IS THERE A BAN TRAVEL TO BUFFALO?
The storm is strong enough that, even for a place used to harsh weather, things are starting to shut down.
NBC affiliate WGRZ reported that an Erie County travel ban is in effect for some cities south of Buffalo. The station also reported minor local power outages, perhaps fortunate given the size of a storm variously described as “incredible” and “crippling”.
ERIE COUNTY TRAVEL BAN
Eric County Executive Mark Poloncarz took to social media on Saturday to update the county’s travel ban, which he said could be changed later that day.
As of 3:00 p.m. Sunday, Erie County’s travel ban was significantly eased, but was still in effect for some communities south of Buffalo.
