CNN
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Snow accumulations of more than 6 feet are expected to persist throughout western New York on Sunday after a historic storm drove record snowfall in some parts of the Buffalo area.
Just after 11 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service in Buffalo issued a special weather statement warning that heavy snow with strong winds was creating a “blizzard” in western New York state. The band was moving south of the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas, the Weather Service said.
By Sunday morning, the winds were westerly, meaning the heaviest belt of lake-effect snow is now south of Buffalo, affecting areas from Cleveland to Dunkirk, New York. According to the Weather Service, Buffalo is no longer under a snowfall warning affecting the lake, but remained under a “blowing snow” winter weather warning Sunday night.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told CNN on Saturday that while the Buffalo area is used to dealing with heavy snow, the storm had “much more impact than we normally would.”
Erie County, which includes Buffalo, experienced its worst snowfall ever in a 24-hour period Saturday, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
“This was a record-breaking storm, in some ways stronger than Snowvember, and the relatively quick recovery is a testament to everyone’s preparation and planning,” Poloncarz said. tweets. “The proactive approach continues to pay off.”
“Snowvember” refers to a November 2014 storm in the Buffalo area that dumped nearly 7 feet of snow in three days. At least 13 people were killed in that storm, and the weight of the snow caused dozens of roofs to collapse on impact.
Poloncarz said two people died during the storm from cardiac complications related to shoveling snow and trying to clear the ground.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said the region could see another 6 to 18 inches of snow falling overnight, especially in southern Erie and Chautauqua counties, as the heaviest snow slid south from the greater Buffalo area into southern Erie and Chautauqua counties. higher-lying areas.
The heaviest snow on Sunday will be east of Lake Ontario, where up to a foot of additional snow is expected, with localized areas likely to see more.
Winds of up to 45 mph are possible across the Great Lakes region, which will lead to very cold conditions with temperatures feeling like single digits to just below zero.
Combined snowfall at both locations exceeded 6 feet, according to the Weather Service. Orchard Park, home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, had 77.0 inches of water in 48 hours, and the Natural Bridge, east of Watertown, had 72.3 inches of water — historic numbers for the area.
Multiday weather events have made travel in the region difficult, triggering road closures, driving bans and flight cancellations over the weekend leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.
On Saturday night, the weather service warned that the latest band would make travel conditions severe within minutes.
The travel ban was in effect across much of Erie County, but as of Sunday morning, New York’s governor.Kathy Hocher tweets Many roads in Buffalo and Watertown have been able to reopen and “traffic is moving again!”
Erie County Executive Poloncarz said nearly 400 citations have been issued to drivers found violating the region’s travel ban.
“If you try to enter an area where there is a travel ban, you meet a friendly New York State Police officer who immediately gives you a ticket for violating the travel ban,” Poloncarz said.
New York State Thruway Authority tweets“Crews were out on the Niagara Expressway (I-190) this morning to clear #snow from the shoulders. We have big snowblowers like this working 24/7 to clear snow. If you travel today, please proceed with caution. Highway The highway has reopened to all traffic.”
While officials said earlier that some vehicles had to be towed after being stranded on the side of the road or in accidents, Hochul expressed gratitude to New Yorkers who followed travel advisories and stayed home.
“Thank you for following the directions to stay off the road, so all major roads in western and upstate New York are now open with some restrictions,” Hochul said during a Sunday morning briefing.
Air travel was also impacted by record snowfall, with dozens of flights in and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport being canceled as the storm worsened, according to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport website.
Airport sets single-day snowfall record Saturday’s 21.5 inches shattered the previous daily record of 7.6 inches set in 2014, the local weather service said.
It was the fifth-highest single-day snowfall total on record for Buffalo and the second-highest single-day snowfall total for November.
This month is already the third snowiest November at Buffalo Airport due to the storm. local weather service office.
Hochul thanked local and state agencies for their preparations for the storm in Western New York as the region expects more snow tonight.
Hochul said at a storm briefing in Jefferson County Sunday that an additional 2 feet of snow is expected by 7 p.m. tonight in northern Oswego County at a rate of about 4 inches per hour.
“This is a historic storm, definitely a recorded storm,” Hochul said. “As someone who’s from Buffalo and has lived upstate all our lives, we’ve seen a lot of snow.”
About 1,200 people in the state were affected by the power outage. Hochul says it’s a manageable number, and “no one is left in the dark for long.”
“Given the scale of this storm, I’m very proud of the utility folks who came forward,” the governor said.
On Saturday, Hochul said she was doubling the number of New York National Guard members on the ground in Erie County to check on residents and help remove snow.
She also signed a request for federal reimbursement through the federal emergency disaster declaration.
Nearly 6 million people in the Big Four Lake states (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) will be under winter weather alerts for most of Sunday.
Buffalo Mayor Brown said the city could return to “some sort of normality” on Monday or Tuesday, assuming the worst of the storm passes on Sunday.
“It’s a very unpredictable storm with snow bands moving back and forth from north to south,” Brown said. “The snow was falling fast, wet and thick.”