“Nothing Like A Buffalo Winter”: Even 6 Feet Of Snow Doesn’t Scare The Locals

Buffalo appeared to be relatively unaffected on Sunday despite the persistent poor weather that followed one of the worst winter storms in recent state history that dropped more than six feet of snow on the city and caused whiteout conditions to shut down the area.

Emergency response personnel scrambled to clear roads as the storm started to subside on Sunday morning. Snowfall was predicted to resume overnight at a much slower rate and accumulate to less than two inches. After then, there won’t likely be any more snow until Thanksgiving.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm dumped 21.5 inches of snow on Saturday, a record amount for the area in a 24-hour period. The previous record was 7.6 inches, set on Nov. 19, 2014, during a storm that, by the end of its third day, had dropped more than 86 inches. With 36.9 inches of snow, this November was the second-snowiest on record for the region.

Nevertheless, many Buffalo residents handled the storm without incident. University at Buffalo law student John D’Aquino, 23, trekked through snowbanks to fetch a cup of coffee before returning to his apartment to watch the Buffalo Bills game. His neighborhood’s street was not plowed, and some of the cars parked on the roadside shoulder were still covered with snow.

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In a press conference held on Sunday morning, Mark C. Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County, stated that a large portion of the area had already been cleared of snow and that a driving prohibition on some of the worst-affected highways might be lifted in two days. He noted that several county roads were closed for a week following a comparable storm in 2014 and claimed that the county has improved greatly in its ability to deal with weather-related incidents.

Eight years ago, Mr. Poloncarz recalled, “we were just about finished with the snow, and we really hadn’t gotten to recovery operations and cleanup activities yet.” And now, eight years later, most of the impacted places have seen more snowfall in a shorter amount of time, and we are doing much better.

Officials from the school system even considered holding regular courses on Monday. Although several have already decided to close schools, Lisa Chimera, the deputy county executive, reported that superintendents convened a conference over Zoom on Sunday morning to discuss their choices.

According to Mr. Poloncarz, the storm was to blame for the deaths of two persons “as a result of snow-blowing, snow-shoveling concerns,” and he urged locals to use caution when sanding driveways and to check on their neighbors. Around 1,600 people were without power and 280 individuals were rescued from the region. According to the Weather Service, five structures fell down due to the weight of the snow.

The storm, which occasionally poured more to five inches per hour, left Orchard Park, a suburb southeast of Buffalo, with the highest overall total of exactly 80 inches, or more than six and a half feet. County officials anticipate snowfall totals to surpass those of the storm of 1966, which dumped 50 inches of snow on Oneida County in a single day, despite the Weather Service’s inability to establish whether the storm broke any state records. More than that amount may have fallen in Orchard Park on Friday, according to unconfirmed claims on Saturday.

The snow that has fallen more recently has been fluffy and easy to shovel, but anticipated wind gusts might produce drifts that reduce visibility. Additionally, the crews are having difficulty penetrating the ice and snow that is beneath the surface.

Winds swept clouds of snow over the top of the roof outside a nearby hockey rink and across the parking lot below on a sunny day in the town of Amherst, which is located north of Buffalo.

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Many of the main roads were totally cleared as residents of this suburban town began to pick up driveways and automobiles from the storm. I enjoy the snow. I prefer the weather in Buffalo,” remarked Lany Mankowski, a retired federal employee, as she sat inside the Northtown Center in Amherst on Sunday to watch her 10-year-old grandson play hockey. People simply accept it as normal.

Roads were coated with slush a few miles away on Buffalo’s Main Street, and many people were still digging their way out. Democratic governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Buffalo, issued a state of emergency for 11 counties, several of which are near Lake Ontario on New York’s northern border with Canada. Ms. Hochul stated that she had requested assistance from federal emergency officials in funding recovery efforts during a press conference on Sunday. Additionally, she stated that she intended to request government assistance for storm-damaged small companies.

We’ve seen a lot of snow, as someone from Buffalo who has spent her entire life in upstate New York, said Ms. Hochul. But when you receive 80 to 85 inches of snow in just a few days’ time, from Natural Bridge in the North Country to Orchard Park, that is something to tell your grandchildren. Elijah Cap, a 21-year-old University at Buffalo accounting student who works a part-time job at a grocery store, missed his 6 a.m. shift because he was too far under the covers. By the norms of the city, he claimed, the storm was “quite normal.”

Mr. Cap said, “I don’t think it was anything crazy. Wintertime on Main Street is always a mess.

FAQ

• Buffalo Has How Much Snow?

Buffalo is the fourth snowiest city in the United States out of all the cities with at least 50,000 people. The average amount of snow each winter is 95.4 inches, which is just under 8 feet.

• Does It Snow In Buffalo?

Snow covers the ground most of the time from Christmas to the beginning of March, but there are times when the snow is gone. Over half of the snow that falls each year is very localised and comes from the “lake effect.”

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