Heavy snowfall is hitting western New York, with more than 4 feet of snow on the ground in some areas near the eastern end of Lake Erie as of Friday afternoon. More snowfall could be paralyzing, officials warn.
Dozens of flights in and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport have been canceled, the NFL has moved Sunday’s Buffalo Bills game against the Cleveland Browns to Detroit, and many Buffalo schools and Erie County services have been shut down. At least two people had died due to the storm as of Friday afternoon, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted Friday afternoon.
“Unfortunately, we must report the passing of two Erie County residents — associated with cardiac events related to exertion during shoveling/snow blowing,” read Poloncarz’s tweet. “We send our deepest sympathies and remind all that this snow is very heavy and dangerous.”
Poloncarz later tweeted that a building in the town of Hamburg, south of Buffalo, had partially collapsed due to the snow.
Heavy snowfall began on Thursday and is expected to continue through Sunday in places downwind of the Great Lakes, with 2 to 3 feet likely in many locations east of Lakes Erie and Ontario and “historic” snowfall exceeding 4 feet in some areas south of Buffalo, according to the National Weather Service.
“I want to be very clear: This is not your normal snowfall in the city of Buffalo or in the region,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said Friday as 4 to 5 feet of snow was forecast. “This is a snowstorm with potentially deadly consequences if people do not do the right thing.”
The dangerous lake-effect snowstorm, common in the region, occurs when cold air moves over a warm lake. The water evaporates into warm, moist air, which then travels away from the lake, cools and eventually falls to the ground as snow.
The snowfall could be paralyzing to the hardest-hit communities, officials warn, and could result in “near zero visibility, nearly impossible travel and damage to infrastructure,” the National Weather Service warned early Friday morning.
The snowstorm was accompanied by extremely cold air, with temperatures forecasted to drop into the 20s over the weekend.
Erie County, which includes Buffalo, declared a state of emergency and issued a driving ban Thursday night, though some bans were replaced by travel advisories Friday morning.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also declared a state of emergency Thursday for 11 counties in the western and northwestern part of the state near Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, warning that the snowstorm is expected to result in road closures, travel disruptions, power outages and damage to public and private property. The storm is likely to be the most severe storm in the Buffalo area since a similar lake effect event hit in November 2014. During that storm, more than 5 feet of snow fell east of Buffalo, causing roof collapses, structural failures and power outages. The impassable roads left motorists stranded as food and gas shortages grew. At least 13 people died in that storm.