Current:Home > ScamsWestern New York gets buried under 6 feet of snow in some areas -InfinityFinance
Western New York gets buried under 6 feet of snow in some areas
View
Date:2025-04-18 03:34:46
Residents in western New York got even more snow Saturday after a major winter storm walloped the region Friday, dropping a total of more than 6 feet in some areas and shutting down schools and businesses.
The National Weather Service said snow was falling in parts of Niagara County at a rate of two to three inches per hour on Saturday afternoon.
"You can't go anywhere," Liz Jurkowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo, said on Saturday. "Major roads are closed right now because they're covered with snow. Basically, everyone here is just trying to dig out themselves."
Jurkowski called the whopping 6 feet of snow one of the top three heaviest snowfalls in recorded history for the Buffalo region. It hasn't received this amount of snow since 2014.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Saturday that it could be the most snowfall in a 24-hour period in New York's history. She said she had deployed 150 National Guard and that she was requesting a federal emergency declaration.
At least two people died from cardiac arrest while shoveling snow.
The NWS said wind gusts could reach up to 36 mph. The agency also said a lake-effect snow warning would be in effect until 1 p.m. ET on Sunday in Northern Erie and Genesee counties, saying that travel could be "very difficult to impossible."
Buffalo set a record for daily snowfall by Saturday morning, accumulating 16.1 inches by about 9:30 a.m.
The weather agency reported some towns in Erie County had received more than 5 feet of snow on Friday. Further north in the state, some parts of Jefferson County got nearly 50 inches on Friday.
The following day, areas of the state east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario recorded totals of more than 6 feet.
In Hamburg, south of Buffalo, emergency crews struggled to reach people on Friday, WBFO's Emyle Watkins told NPR. Other towns in the area had not been hit nearly as badly, with some areas north of Buffalo getting just inches.
Crews were working around the clock to clear the the wet, heavy snow that was falling at a faster rate than normal.
John Pilato, the highway superintendent for the town of Lancaster, said he was trying to keep his snow crews fed and rested while they camp out at the highway department.
"Bought as much food and grub that we could just to have on hand for these guys. We bought a bunch of K-cups so we could keep them a little bit caffeinated and fueled up," Pilato told Watkins. "It's hard, it's very hard. They're not in their own bed, they're in a chair, or they're in a cot."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday declared a state of emergency that covered 11 counties in the western part of the state. That included a number of travel bans on local interstates and roads.
Schools in Buffalo and around Erie County canceled classes Friday, while Amtrak shut down stations in the area.
The NFL also announced Thursday that a Buffalo Bills home game scheduled for this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns has been moved to Detroit in a decision that "has everything to do about safety," Bills Executive Vice President Ron Raccuia said to ESPN.
Kyra Laurie, a college student who became stranded at her parent's house south of Buffalo in Orchard Park that got several feet of snow, told Watkins she's having a good time with her family, but said this storm caught her by surprise.
"Being from Buffalo, you just assume that you'll make it, that you can truck through any kind of snowstorm, but I feel like this one's been really aggressive," Laurie said.
The heavy snow is caused by the lake effect
The region is being pummeled by lake-effect snow, which occurs when cold air passes over a relatively warm body of water, picking up a lot of moisture and dropping it over land. Areas near lakes can experience snowfall rates up to 3 inches an hour or more.
Colin Beier, an associate professor at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, told NPR the the difference between lake and air temperatures in the area is highest until spring.
"It doesn't surprise me that with that big shift to cold air, you still got a warm lake, if it's pointed right at a big city like Buffalo or anywhere it's pointed you're going to get very a significant amount of snow right now," Beier said.
The post contains reporting from WBFO's Emyle Watkins, WBFO's Dave Debo and WRVO's Ava Pukatch and The Associated Press.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- Turkey’s Erdogan accuses the West of ‘barbarism’ and Islamophobia in the war in Gaza
- Heavy fighting in south Gaza as Israel presses ahead with renewed US military and diplomatic support
- Asteroid will pass in front of bright star Betelgeuse to produce a rare eclipse visible to millions
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- The Secrets of Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue's Loving, Lusty Marriage
- The State Department approves the sale of tank ammunition to Israel in a deal that bypasses Congress
- For Putin, winning reelection could be easier than resolving the many challenges facing Russia
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- High school students lift car to rescue woman, 2-year-old child in Utah: Watch video
Ranking
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Texas Supreme Court temporarily halts ruling allowing woman to have emergency abortion
- Third victim ID'd in UNLV shooting as college professors decry 'national menace'
- Hundreds of Georgians march in support of country’s candidacy for European Union membership
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- The NRA has a surprising defender in its free speech case before the Supreme Court: the ACLU
- Children of imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi to accept Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf
- Norman Lear's son-in-law, Dr. Jon LaPook, reflects on the legendary TV producer's final moments: He was one of my best friends
Recommendation
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
Divers recover the seventh of 8 crew members killed in crash of a US military Osprey off Japan
AP PHOTOS: Moscow hosts a fashion forum with designers from Brazil, China, India and South Africa
A year after lifting COVID rules, China is turning quarantine centers into apartments
Small twin
A pregnant Texas woman asked a court for permission to get an abortion, despite a ban. What’s next?
Kids are losing the Chuck E. Cheese animatronics. They were for the parents, anyway
LSU QB Jayden Daniels wins 2023 Heisman Trophy