Parts of western New York are buried under four feet of snow, trapping vehicles and powering thousands over Christmas weekend, as a massive winter storm continues to pummel much of the U.S. with brutal winter weather, leading nationwide 37 kill.
Buffalo has been hit by the “most devastating storm in its long storied history,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul told CNN. At least 17 people were confirmed in the state on Sunday night due to the heavy snowfall and blizzards that made roads impassable with zero visibility and frozen power substations.
This “lake-effect” snow, which forms when cold air moves over the warm waters of the Great Lakes, has buried western New York just a month after the region was hit by a record-breaking blizzard.
On Christmas Day, hundreds of shift drivers and rescuers dispersed, and even some of the emergency and recovery vehicles sent to the rescue got stuck. Officials reported that 11 abandoned ambulances were rescued on Sunday.
“The rescue team was rescuing rescuers … it was so horrible,” Erie County executive director Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference Sunday. Many of New York’s weather-related fatalities occurred in Erie County, where some people were found dead in cars and on the streets in snowdrifts, he said.
According to the Buffalo Police Department, “people found outside and in cars” are responsible for the majority of reported deaths in Buffalo. Hundreds of National Guard soldiers have been sent to New York to help with relief efforts. State police had been involved in more than 500 rescues on Sunday, including delivering a baby and helping a man with 4% left on his mechanical heart, the governor said.
Hochul warned residents to stay off the roads through Monday, saying: “We are still in the grip of this very dangerous life-threatening situation.” Hochul said that despite the dangerous conditions, state and county shift drivers were nonstop clearing roads during the storm.
About 500 motorists were stranded in their vehicles, according to Poloncarz, who described the terrifying state of the roads as a scorching blizzard swept through the region Friday night and Saturday morning. “Imagine looking a few feet in front of you at a white sheet for more than 24 hours straight.
And so, he continued, was what it was like outside in the worst weather. The blizzard and whiteout conditions were constant, making it impossible to see. Nobody knew what was going on. Even as hundreds of abandoned cars still line the streets of Buffalo’s snow-covered streets, residential living conditions are no better.
Hochul stated at the press conference that some residents have remained in their homes for the past 56 hours, some without power in freezing temperatures. The governor explained that this is not due to a lack of money, but rather a problem with utilities’ ability to reach remote areas.
As of late Sunday, Hochul said electricity had been restored to 94.5 percent of Erie County and 87.3 percent of Buffalo. Still, Poloncarz reported that as of Sunday night, 12,000 homes and businesses in Erie County were without electricity, with many not getting power back until Tuesday.
The National Weather Service is forecasting snowfall and freezing temperatures for Buffalo on Monday, with a high of 23 degrees and a low of 18 degrees.
Storm leads to loss of life in multiple states
Extreme low temperatures and chills have blanketed much of the United States over the past week as a result of the ongoing winter storm, which has also led to extensive power outages and thousands of travel cancellations.
Residents of Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Mobile, Montgomery and Birmingham were among more than 10 million people in the South who received a freeze warning on Monday. Lows in the 1920s and 20s are predicted for the affected areas, which could destroy crops and freeze pipes.
As the mercury rises and the arctic air begins to recede, most of these warnings will lift by Monday morning. About 90,000 on Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.US. consumers were without power across the country. Since the start of the storm, there have been instances where more than a million people were without power.
In the United States, more than 5,000 flights were canceled on Friday due to the storm, 3,400 flights on Saturday and 3,100 flights on Christmas Day. As of 5 a.m. ET Monday, more than 1,300 flights in, to and from the United States had been canceled.
Numerous deaths from storms have been recorded in multiple states since the arrival of the severe weather. Aside from the New York City fatalities, there are other places where people have lost their lives:
Colorado: As of Thursday, two cold deaths have been recorded by police in Colorado Springs. One man was discovered near a building’s electrical transformer, possibly seeking warmth, while another was discovered in a tent in an alley.
Kansas: On Friday, the Kansas Highway Patrol reported that three people had lost their lives in traffic accidents caused by the weather.
Kentucky: Officials reported three deaths statewide, including a fatal car accident in Montgomery County.
Missouri: Kansas City police say one person was killed when their trailer skidded off the road and into a frozen creek.
Ohio: Authorities report nine people died in weather-related car accidents, four of them in a Saturday morning disaster on Interstate 75 that involved a large tractor-trailer that jumped the median and collided with an SUV and a truck.
Tennessee: On Friday, the Tennessee Department of Health reported that one person had died as a result of the storm.
Wisconsin: A fatal accident was attributed to the snow and ice on Thursday, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol.
What to expect when the storm passes
Even as the massive system responsible for the blizzards and winter weather advisories moves away from the northeast, much of the region is still covered in deep snow. Baraga, Michigan had 42.8 inches of snow in one day, while Watertown, New York got 34.2 inches.
A record 10.5 inches of snow fell on Christmas Eve in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to the National Weather Service. Winter storm warnings have been extended into the next few days in Buffalo, Jamestown and Watertown, New York.
According to the latest weather forecasts, 20 cm of snow can fall in Jamestown, 14 cm in Buffalo and 9 cm in Watertown. Expect wind gusts of up to 40 kilometers per hour. A lake effect snow warning is in effect for the area north of Jamestown through Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. EST, where accumulations of up to 18 inches are expected.
The National Weather Service predicts that lake-effect snow drifting downwind from the Great Lakes will gradually diminish in intensity, but that the Arctic air that has enveloped much of the eastern half of the country will slowly diminish .
Dangerous driving conditions due to lake-effect snow are predicted to continue for the next several days, with some improvement later in the week. While the low pressure system is expected to move further north into Canada.
Another system will move quickly across the northern United States into Monday, delivering snow to the northern plains and the Midwest. Forecasters predict the rest of the eastern United States will remain in a severe freeze through Monday, with temperatures gradually rising from Tuesday.
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